Questioning Beliefs
by Minaethiel
Summary: Sequel to "Wrath of the Rockies." Takes place during seasons 9 and 10. Colorado has mostly recovered from her ordeal at Vortex. Well, at least physically. However her past has her questioning why she's fighting, and as Project Freelancer advances, she begins to wonder if she's really one of the good guys... North/OC; Weekly updates
1. Chapter 1: Life Goes On

_**So, here I am again! Colorado is back as well, in what I'm going to call **__**Questioning Beliefs**__**. This takes place during season nine and ten, so if you haven't seen either of those, I don't recommend reading if you don't want anything spoiled :o If you are going to read regardless, then I hope you enjoy! Without further ado, here is **__**Questioning Beliefs**__**!**_

_**Chapter 1**_

I hated waiting. In fact, the only thing I hated more than waiting was being helpless, and unfortunately for me, I had to do (or be) both things at that particular moment. I hadn't felt this irate since my capture by Insurrectionists over four months ago. Of course I hadn't been entirely helpless, but there had been a LOT of waiting. In the end though, I had gone two and half days in captivity before breaking out, killing my captor, and ultimately getting rescued by some other Freelancers. Although, one of them wasn't just ANY Freelancer. Since our return to the _Mother of Invention_, North and I had become an official couple. The other Freelancers took great joy in teasing one or both of us about the other, but we didn't care. The only Freelancer who didn't seem entirely happy though, was south. Surprisingly, South had grown more distant since North and I had gotten together. Now South and I rarely hung out together, and when we did she always seemed to be irritated about something. It had to be her place on the leader board. She had been moved up to number four (behind Wyoming, York, and Carolina), but she was still unsatisfied. I thought she had become obsessed with the board, and North agreed. Since my rescue, I was still at number nine. It still bothered me that I had gone through so much to receive… well, nothing, but since I had North, the board didn't matter to me as much anymore.

Probably the strangest relationship I had now was with Carolina. After her injury in Vortex, she had been treated and released, and we had had our little talk. We weren't super close braid-each-other's-hair friends, but we understood each other better now. I had never realized how alike we were before. We both had the drive to succeed, the iron will, the easily tapped tempers… it was kind of weird. However, I was glad that I no longer had to consider Carolina as an enemy within the program.

The same could not be said for everyone. Four months after the rescue, we still had no idea who was leaking information to the Innies. The Director said he had a couple of suspects, but refused to elaborate further. With this lack of information, I surrounded myself with the Freelancers whom were already cleared of wrongdoing. Wash, York, South, Wyoming, Maine, and everyone else at the top of the leader board was clear. However, he had not told CT of his latest suspicions, which I found interesting. So with discretion, I started to avoid CT as well. North had started to poke fun at my paranoia, but he hadn't heard the agent give the rescue plans away. If I hadn't of escaped, would all of them still be alive? Would the Innies have captured them too? I never brought this up to North. In fact my lack of contact with the other Freelancers was a sore spot in conversations nowadays. North would ask me why, and I would try to find the words to explain, but I would never seem to get through to him. Granted, I loved North; he was the only guy who truly got me, but when it came to understanding my point of view, we were really just so different that nothing we say makes sense to the other.

So I had started keeping some stuff from him. I began having nightmares about Arizona's death, and I'd wake up in the middle of the night thinking he was onboard the _Mother of Invention_. I felt like a scared little child, but I never admitted having nightmares to anyone. Instead, I kept that secret locked away in my heart, not daring to let it loose. I didn't need anyone worrying over me.

However I did not hide the worry that was creasing my face. Earlier that day, North and South had been sent on a mission. According to what North had told me before his departure, he and South were to infiltrate an oilrig and acquire the data stored there. They were supposed to get in and out without being detected, and I could only imagine how hard that would be. Though North and South made an excellent combat team, South was known to be impatient. If their cover got blown, I would have no doubts about who would cause the alarm to be raised. So I stood pacing outside the hanger, which is where York found me just two hours after North and South had been sent out.

"Come on, Colorado. You've been here long enough, why don't you come down to the gym and spar with me while you wait. I'm sure North and South will be fine.

I sighed and quit pacing, contenting myself with leaning against the wall instead.

"Easy for you to say, York. I'm going to be wearing a hole in the floor if they don't come back safe and sound. And if anyone hurts North… I'll pay a personal visit to that rig and fuck everyone up that I find."

At this, I heard York's laughter fill the air.

"Damn, Colorado, remind me never to touch North. Now come on, let's get to the gym. Maine is down there; I'm sure he'd like some pleasant company."

I snorted in amusement and smacked the back of his head.

"If by 'pleasant' you mean 'distracted,' then sure, let's go keep the big guy company."

With that, I started down the hallway with York on my tail. The _Mother of Invention_ gym had everything you would expect of a military program, and even had a corner for holographic hand-to-hand combat sequences. As expected, Maine was already in the gym beating the stuffing out of a bag. With each hit from his massive fist, the bag was sent flying. I was impressed that the chain keeping it to the ceiling hadn't snapped yet. At the sound of the door sliding open, Maine turned and nodded a greeting.

"Hey Maine, mind if we steal in here for a bit? Colorado can't stop worrying about North."

Though neither could see, I rolled my eyes. Was it really such a crime to worry about someone you cared about? Maine, however, seemed to sense my irritation and chuckled a bit.

"Help yourselves; I don't own the gym."

"Thanks, Maine."

He nodded and went back to brutalizing his punching bag, while York and I headed for the boxing ring. Both of us ditched our armor in favor of our under armor, and took places in opposite corners of the ring. There was no safety gear in place. The Director believed that the best safety tip was not to get hit, and therefore did not equip the gym's boxing ring with gloves or helmets. York took on a ready stance and motioned to me.

"Whenever you're ready, 'Rado!"

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and sized York up. Since North had started calling me "'Rado," the other agents had taken to calling me that as well. Nevertheless, it was nice to just have a casual name among the other agents. Having a nickname made me feel like I was more of a friend to the other agents than just a co-worker. I entered into my own combat stance and narrowed my eyes. York was number two; he was among the top of our "class" so-to-speak in combat techniques, and he was Carolina's partner in crime. I expected a tough fight, but what York was weak in was deviating from known strategies. If I could improvise well enough, I might have a chance to beat him.

With this in mind, I rushed towards him and slid on my knees at the last second, intending to swipe his feet out from under him. However, York's reflexes served him well as he leapt over me and proceeded to land a kick into my side, which sent me spinning off balance and into the rail. I grunted in slight pain and got back on my feet in time to see York rushing me with a clenched right fist. I squeaked in surprise and hastily ducked, swiping out my own fist as I went past him. His gasp of surprise told me that I had hit my mark, and I followed up with a left hook to his back. York stumbled slightly from the impact, but turned around so he was facing me and threw a retaliatory punch that knocked me square in the jaw. The force sent me reeling back, and I tasted blood; apparently I had accidentally bit my cheek at the impact. Swallowing down the blood, I thrust back the stinging pain and rushed at York again, who was patiently awaiting my next move. I feinted to the left, and was pleased when he rushed to mount a defense there, only to take my right fist to the side of his head. York cursed and kneed me away with his left knee, but I wasn't finished yet. I leapt at him and tried to drag him down to the ground, but was surprised as he allowed his full weight to fall on me. I dropped him while he was off balance and was about to go for the pin when FILSS broke up the match.

"Attention Agent Carolina, please report to the hangers."

York and I had both stopped to listen, and I didn't miss the worry that crossed his face as Carolina was called down. Now I knew that Carolina could handle herself now that her gunshot wound had healed, but York worried for her like I worried for North. I walked over and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he shot me a grateful look.

"Don't worry York, Carolina is number one for a reason. If anyone can handle herself, it's her. Although I have to ask… why haven't you told her how you feel yet?"

Since North and I had gotten together, I had become much more attune to the emotions of other Freelancers. Watching York and Carolina interact had become an intriguing point for me. Both of them seemed to like each other, yet neither one would own up to their feelings. I didn't know whether to hook them up myself or let things go their own way. York shot me a look that seemed both shocked and nervous. I could only guess he was feeling shy about such an open acknowledgment of his feelings for Carolina, and the blush creeping up onto his cheeks seemed to confirm my suspicions.

"Well, you know… we're Freelancers. She would probably just punch me or something."

I scoffed at this.

"York, both North and I are Freelancers and we're making things work just fine. The biggest problem we have is worrying about the other when we go on missions."

The Director had decided that I would be a more solo agent because of my actions on Vortex. Escaping from enemy custody and getting two targets either incapacitated or killed apparently was what the Director wanted in a solo agent. I wasn't happy about being sent out alone, but the Director had promised to acquire something to aid me in combat soon. He hadn't elaborated, so I was left to guessing. I had been allowed to keep my thruster pack, so I didn't know what else I needed.

"It's not just that, 'Rado. Carolina is so focused on being the best that I'm afraid she'd reject any relationships. It's like she sees them as a distraction."

He sounded so discouraged that I felt compelled to give him a light hug. He seemed surprised by this, but didn't pull away.

"Just tell her! I've seen how she acts around you, you know. I think she feels the same way but she doesn't seem like the type to allow affectionate emotions to really surface. You just have to teach her that love can be a strength instead of a weakness."

York had allowed an amused smirk to cross over his features.

"Since when did you become the love doctor?"

"North has asked that I "express my feelings" more instead of bottling them up. I don't know. I hate to admit that he's right, but I feel a lot calmer with less stuff on my chest."

"Less, huh?"

I sighed and looked away, not liking where this conversation was going now.

"He can't know all of my secrets, York. Some things are just better left unsaid."

"Whoa, now it's MY turn to give you some advice. I've known North for a long time. If you tell him what's wrong, he'll do whatever it takes to help you out."

"I've already tried telling him some things. He just doesn't seem to understand and gives me advice that I just can't follow."

By now both of us were just sitting in the ring instead of trying to pin each other. Maine had moved on to the bench-pressing machine, but I would bet anything that he was listening to our conversation.

"Like what, 'Rado?"

I sighed in exasperation and wondered how I had managed to get into this discussion. I had to admit though, it was nice to just let all of my worries out for once.

"You remember how I found out that there was another traitor among our ranks? We still haven't found him, York. I don't trust any of the Freelancers any more unless the Director himself has cleared them. Why do you think I've been avoiding Oregon like the plague? Anyways, North told me that acting strange would only lead to the traitor getting paranoid. He told me to play it cool around all the agents and act like nothing was wrong."

It was true about Oregon. For a month after I got back he kept trying to get closer to me. He'd sit at my lunch table, try to talk to me in the locker room, and one time he even offered me to stay in his room if I ever needed or wanted to. After about four weeks of ignoring him or giving him the cold shoulder, he finally gave up. Now I suspected that he was just pissed off at me.

"Well that does seem like good advice."

"I don't doubt North's advice, but he doesn't understand that the thought of saying too much or getting someone else killed scares me to death."

"You still aren't over Nevada?"

"It's not Nevada, York. It's Arizona. He only went traitor because I betrayed him first. Before I- well, before he died- he asked me if the leader board meant more to me than friendship. During that mission, it had. I was the real monster, York. Arizona's death is on my head two times over. If our newest traitor knew how much Arizona's death bothered me… well, it would be just the thing the enemy would like to know."

"Does North know all of this, 'Rado?"

"No. He doesn't know any of that. And I swear York, if you tell him anything, I will beat the shit out of you in training tomorrow."

He held up his hands in surrender.

"Whoa, easy there. I won't say a word, but you really should. If killing Arizona scarred you that much, maybe you should see a psychologist. You know, talk it out."

At this, I laughed, though there was little amusement.

"A psychologist? York, I don't if you noticed, but talking to people I don't know isn't really my strong suit. And honestly, I'd rather talk to you guys than a psychologist. You're more likely to understand. You've had to kill people before, and probably seen people you know die. What psychologist is going to understand that?"

York seemed troubled by my small outburst and motioned to Maine. The large Freelancer stopped lifting weights and came over. York then proceeded to grab my arm and Maine took the other.

"What the fuck! What do you two think you're doing?!"

Maine only smiled in amusement, but York looked determined.

"You're going to see a psychologist, and you're going to like it.."

"What?! No, fuck that!"

To demonstrate my unwillingness, I wrapped my legs around the nearest pole and hung on for dear life. Granted, Maine could probably rip me off the pole in two seconds flat, but I wasn't going anywhere without a fight. This was proved as they suddenly stopped and looked back at me before giving a massive wrench and tearing me free. However, just as we entered the hallway, FILSS's voice came over the intercom again.

"Attention, medical personnel please report to hanger eight to receive Agent North Dakota."

_Son of a bitch!_ Calling medical personnel straight to the hanger was never a good thing, and it was the thought of North being hurt that drove me into a frenzy to get to him. Maine and York wisely released me, and I took off towards the hanger. By the time I arrived, the Pelican had arrived and North was getting taken to the medical bay. I could barely see over the heads of the medics, but I saw lots of blood. I thought I was to burst from the worry, and I saw South being carried out of the Pelican, apparently unconscious. Carolina herself walked out, and I immediately hurried up to her.

"Carolina, what happened to North?"

I was trying to keep my voice strong, but there was an unmistakable trace of worry that made my voice tremble. She seemed to hesitate a bit before speaking, but when she finally did fill me in, her voice was steady and business-like.

"He got taken down by a turret after pushing South out of the way. She alarmed the whole base, so extraction got a little bit messy."

Silently, I cursed South's carelessness. I still considered her a friend, but she had almost got her brother killed.

"Thank you, Carolina."

"No problem, 'Rado. If you need anything, I'll be in the training room."

I nodded; amazed that Carolina could go on a mission and come back ready for training. Every other agent came back from a mission and wanted to crash in bed it seemed. As Carolina headed towards the training room, I deviated from the path and went to the medical bay. Inside, gravity had been disengaged and the doctors seemed to be removing the bullets. Already I could see that two had been removed and were currently floating in a containment jar. I felt a presence come up on my side, and turned to see South standing next to me. She stared blankly into the room, and I wondered what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry about what happened to North, South."

"It's ok, 'Rado. He shouldn't have done it; I had everything under control."

I felt myself stunned at her tone; it was like a mutinous child who had needed their mother's help to open a jar. After the shock passed, I felt irritation welling in me. North was her BROTHER; how could she be so cold?

"Do you even feel slightly worried about him? Or even thankful? He could've died trying to save you!"

"That was his choice, 'Rado. I'm sorry he took the fire, but I'm not going to feel bad for him."

With that, she walked off towards the gym. I couldn't believe she could be that unconcerned about her own brother. If that had been me, I would be working my ass off to make the save up to him. An hour later, the doctors had finished up and wheeled him to recovery. One of them stopped me.

"You can visit for a few minutes, but he needs to rest. You'll need to leave as soon as possible."

I glared at him and he shrank back.

"Thank you for the advice, doc, but I'm not leaving."

I stalked my way past him and entered the dimly lit room. North was lying in a bed in the far right corner, and I quietly walked over. The blood was gone, and his armor was gone for repairs. Instead he was in his under armor. I sat next to the bed in one of the chairs provided and gently took his left hand. His hand was warm, reminding me that he was alive, and that he was going to be ok.

"Hey, North. I know you probably can't hear me, but I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop you from getting shot. I wish you hadn't of pushed South out of the way. She's ungrateful for what you did, you know. It took a lot of self-control not to send HER to the medical bay. I'm going to talk to the Director as soon as you wake up, North, and get him to stop putting me on solo missions. I could've helped you and South on this mission, and maybe stopped this from happening. Rest easy, North. I'll be here if you need me."

I refused to leave North's side. York and Wash came to visit, as well as Maine and Carolina. CT dropped in, but I pretended to be asleep so I wouldn't have to talk to her. North himself didn't wake up until the next day. I was enjoying one of the best sessions of sleep I had had in a while, when I felt a gentle squeeze on my hand. I blinked my eyes open and found North staring back at me. I smiled in relief.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. You nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday."

My tone was light with happiness, but I could swear that my eyes gave away a worried look when North kissed my hand.

"You know how it is, 'Rado. There was a damsel in distress and I had to be the white knight."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Next time just leave the damsel to her distress; she doesn't seem very grateful for your sacrifice."

"Oh come on now, you know that South won't admit to owing anybody."

"If I had a brother," I flinched slightly at the sentence, "I'd make sure he knew everyday how much I appreciated him. How much he meant to me."

I was looking at North, but all I could see was my deceased brother, Blake. Sandy brown hair and green eyes like mine, he had been gunned down in a fight between Innies and UNSC forces. The whole reason I was in the military was for Blake. Brushing away these thoughts, I smiled down across the bed I was laying on to North. He had a concerned glint in his eyes, and I assumed he was waiting for me to spill my guts. Unfortunately, he was going to have to wait.

"I'll come back and sit with you later, North. I need to go and see the Director; these solo missions he's putting me on bore me to tears, and I want to work with a team again."

He chuckled a bit in amusement, wincing a bit from his injuries.

"Just watch your temper, 'Rado. You know how the Director gets when his agents are insubordinate."

"And he knows how _I _get when things don't go my way. You'll see, North. Everything will go exactly as planned."

_**And so, this is the first chapter ;D if you can't guess, this was based during events from the episode "The Twins" in season 9. I have to admit, that is my favorite episode, simply because we got to see Monty's kick-ass animating in action for an entire episode straight #fangirl. Anyways, as usual, I hope you enjoyed :3 I promise that this story is going to be longer than **__**Wrath of the Rockies**__** ;)**_


	2. Chapter 2: Two for One

_**It's that time of week again, ladies and gentlemen ;) I present to you another chapter! I plan on alternating between episode-based chapters and original "fluff" chapters. Also, updates will be once a week so I can keep up with my writing :) Enjoy!**_

_**Chapter 2**_

Talking to the Director on the bridge always unnerved me nowadays. I wasn't nervous because the Director was intimidating- hell, I liked to think I was intimidating too- but I was concerned about being overheard by third parties. I didn't care if the leader board honchos found out (I was going to inform them of my request later anyway), but when I didn't trust over half the agents on the ship, information was valuable to keep on the down low. Unfortunately, the Director didn't seem to find much wrong with talking on the non-soundproof bridge. So as I sat waiting to be acknowledged, I observed what was going on. Apparently we had a new agent, because a woman in all black armor was busy speaking to the Director. He seemed pretty entrenched in the conversation, but the Counselor kept signaling me to be patient, so I could only hope they would stop talking soon. After what felt like thirty minutes, the two saluted each other, and the woman went to leave the bridge. As she passed by me, she only looked at me. No friendly greetings were given, and I found myself wondering exactly who she was.

"Agent Colorado, might I inquire the reason for your visit?"

I saluted and took a deep breath. If the Director didn't hear me out, I would sneak onto missions myself. I was a stealth specialist for a reason after all.

"Director, I'd like to be placed back onto team required missions. While I am good at solo operations, I truly believe that my skills are best put to use as a scout for a team. If I was given an invisibility unit, I could run infiltration as well."

The Director had turned around to look at the expanded leader board. Next to my name was the symbol for stealth, and many other agents shared it as well.

"How do you plan on running so much equipment on one suit without the help of a computer, Agent?"

"The lack of a computer does not deter me from trying my best, sir."

"I want my agents to be in top condition, and among the most advanced to further aid Project Freelancer. I will put you with a team for our next mission, Agent Colorado. You will also receive your invisibility unit."

I was shocked by how easily he had agreed.

"Thank you, sir, I promise that you won't regret it."

"I wasn't finished, Agent. You will not be able to run all of that equipment on your own. Therefore, you will be implanted with an AI."

I could only widen my eyes. An AI? I was perfectly capable of running my equipment on my own without some know-it-all program telling me how to do it!

"Sir, with all due respect, I am perfectly capable of making the minimal calculations needed for the invisibility unit, and I have already mastered using the thruster pack to the best of my abilities. I don't need a computer to do it for me."

"Minimal calculations do not aide you in the battlefield, Agent Colorado. If you want to go back to working with a team, you will take the AI, or you will continue with your solo assignments. The choice is yours."

I schooled my face to neutrality, but internally I was furious; how dare he think I'd undermine a team by running my gear alone! Regardless, this sounded like the best option I was going to get.

"Very well, sir. I'll take the AI. Which team will you be putting me with?"

"Carolina overlooks all teams for the top agents on the leader board; you will be under her orders on missions unless told otherwise, Agent."

"Yes sir, thank you."

"Counselor, please prep Agent Colorado for implantation."

"Right away, Director."

The Counselor motioned me out, and I followed him. I was going to get the AI right now? I hadn't even had time to prepare! I didn't even know what getting an implantation entailed! Grumbling, I tapped the Counselor on the shoulder.

"I'm assuming we're going to engineering or something? I'll be right back; I just need to visit North. In fact why don't you just meet me there with the AI?"

The Counselor shook his head.

"I am sorry, Agent Colorado, but we do not have time for you to visit North. You will be joining him in the recovery room shortly."

"What do you mean?"

"AI implantation involves surgically inserting the AI into the base of your skull. It merges your mind to that of the AI's. Essentially, the AI will be living in your brain."

"I don't know if I like the sound of that, Counselor."

"I assure you, the procedure is quite simple. From what we have seen, there are minimal side affects."

My mouth had gone dry with nervousness as he explained further, and by the time we got to the medical bay, my hands were shaking from nerves. No other Freelancer had had this done, and I felt like a Guinea Pig for an experiment. A small part of me was curious though as to how this AI and I would work together. I soon drifted away from those thoughts as the Counselor led me to a table. I obediently hopped on and allowed myself to lie backwards. The cold metal surface caused me to shiver, but it didn't last long as the doctors came in and began prepping for the procedure. I watched them calmly at first, until what I assumed was the AI storage unit was brought in. The device looked alien to me, and I began to feel my nervousness return. What the hell had I been thinking?! Regardless, it was too late now. Gravity was disengaged and I felt myself being turned upside down as they injected the anesthetic. The affect was almost instantaneous, and I found myself being pulled into the dark throes of sleep.

I think I woke up a few hours later. I had the feeling of being watched, and I sat up abruptly, staring around. To my right on the bedside rail, was a small glowing person. He looked like he had Recon-type armor, and he had purple and gold armor on. His colors were so vivid, almost as if they were a watercolor painting. I stared at him, puzzled.

"You must be my AI."

"That is correct, Agent Colorado. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, my name is Psi."

His voice sounded almost exactly like Blake's and I felt my heart beat a bit faster. Could I handle talking to an AI that reminded me of my dead brother?

"So… you're the one who's going to be running my armor?"

"You seem disappointed by the notion."

"I just don't see how an AI is going to help me. Don't take offense, I just wasn't expecting to have an AI implanted into my head."

"Yes, I know that. I also know that I remind you of someone you lost, and that you think you could do a better job in running your armor."

Now I grew slightly snappish, and I couldn't entirely explain why.

"Is this the part where you demonstrate your intellectual superiority? How did you know all of that anyway?"

"I am in your head, Colorado. Nothing is hidden from me. I know all about you."

"Great. That's just fan-fucking-tastic."

At this moment, the Counselor walked in.

"Ah, Agent Colorado. It is good to see that you are finally awake. How are you and Psi getting along?"

"Like anyone would with a home invader, Counselor."

"Give it time, I'm sure you'll get used to having Psi with you everywhere. His attribute is a distinct match to your personality, so you two should be compatible partners."

"His… attribute?"

Psi appeared in front of me again.

"Yes, Agent Colorado. I am not a full AI, but a fragment. My attribute is dependability."

"So essentially, you're the one to count on to help out?"

"In a way. I can also be the "shoulder to cry on" if you like. You seem to think about that a lot."

I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks, which intensified as the Counselor cleared his throat.

"Well I'll leave you two to get acquainted further."

The Counselor left the room rather quickly, until it was just Psi and myself. North had been asleep when I woke up, but now I could see him starting to rise from sleep. He yawned and sat up, and I could see his face light up in surprise as he saw me.

"Ya… long story North."

He beckoned me over, and I happily complied.

"Tell me, I've got all the time in the world right now."

In my head, Psi inquired about North. I thought about explaining my relationship, but apparently he had already gathered that information. He just wanted to talk. I sighed.

"North, this is Psi."

On cue, Psi appeared on my shoulder, and North's eyes widened in surprise.

"You were implanted with an AI?"

"Ya, the Director said I could go back to working with you guys and get an invisibility unit if I agreed to having an AI to help run the equipment."

"Well, what can he do?"

"I'm not sure, but Psi said his attribute is dependability. I guess that means he's really helpful. Of course I'd be more appreciative if his help was less embarrassing."

"Agent Colorado, I was merely making an observation that you wanted someone to talk to and offered my help accordingly."

"Yes, you said that right in front of the Counselor."

North was looking between the two of us and grinning, and I could tell that he was trying hard not to laugh.

"What is so funny?!"

"This is just the best AI and human partnership I've ever seen. You're so independent that the very notion of people trying to help you drives you nuts. Now you have an AI that is offering his help at every corner. I can't wait to tell York about this."

I groaned in dismay.

"You know how I am, North. I hate it when people do things for me that I can do myself."

"Agent Colorado, with all due respect, I am much more efficient in running computerized units than any human. You do not have to feel inadequate."

North burst out laughing, and I could not suppress my annoyance. Psi was going to be helpful for sure, but his constant offhand comments about my feelings were going to be the death of me.

"Look North, I'll talk to you later, I'm going to go inform Carolina of the Director's decision and see if Psi can actually keep my thoughts a secret."

"If you wish, Colorado, I can log off so I don't undermine you in front of the other agents. I know you hate being made fun of."

North chuckled.

"Well, good luck, 'Rado. And tell York to bring me some dinner; I'm starving."

"Always thinking with your stomach, North."

I chuckled a bit, my mood lifting and leaned over to peck North on the cheek before exiting the recovery room. The doctors were probably going to have a fit that I left early, but I had never been the most model patient they had had. Walking down the hallways, I could feel Psi taking everything in, and making observations about passing personnel. For example, upon passing Oregon, Psi informed me that the agent had an unusual amount of anger towards me. That didn't surprise me in the least considering my treatment of him the past few months. However, Psi had perplexed me.

"Hey Psi?"

"Yes, Agent Colorado?"

"Well first of all, you don't have to call me by my full name. You can just call me 'Rado. Second of all, how can you get a feel for people so well?"

"Well, when humans look at one another, they can merely guess at the emotions on their faces. I can analyze every angle on their face and use that data with those of your memories of the person to discover their emotions. However if they are wearing a helmet it is not so effective."

"Mm, I can imagine. Do you need my memories to determine a person's mood?"

"No, but without your mental input it certainly makes the analysis harder."

I had no response to that, and instead contented myself with walking to the armory. Armor equipment was stored here, and the Director had given me the clearance for one invisibility unit. However, I had forgotten my armor in the gym. I cursed silently, and made my way there. However, as I approached the door, I heard voices, and it sounded like they were trying to be quiet. One of them I recognized as CT.

"Calm down, the Director doesn't suspect you; it's me he's keeping an eye on."

"No? But Colorado suspects me. She hasn't talked to me in months."

"She hasn't talked to anyone in months; at least not anyone off of the leader board."

"Does it matter? She knows there's another traitor on the ship."

"Oregon, calm down! If you start to behave erratically, you'll become a suspect, and General Gray needs your information."

I felt sick to my stomach; Oregon was the traitor! What did CT have to do with this though? I had to get closer and listen, and powered up my invisibility unit. However the calculations were too advanced for me to work at right away. If given some time I could figure them out, but I had to get in there now.

"Psi?"

"Yes, 'Rado?"

"I need you to run my invisibility unit. I need to be as inconspicuous as possible. Can you do that?"

"Colorado, you have no armor to run the unit on, and your current attire is not suited to invisibility needs."

"Damn it."

The minor set back did not deter me, however.

"Psi, can you shut off the lights in there and make it pitch black? My armor is behind the boxing ring. If I can get to it and put it on, you can run the invisibility unit."

"The chance of success seems low, but if that's what you want, I will oblige."

"Please, Psi."

I held my breath, waiting for his cue. The lights in the hallway went out.

"Go now! I'm trying to make it seem like the ship is experiencing a power failure."

There was no hesitation. I opened the door as CT and Oregon began questioning the sudden power failure and made my way over to the boxing ring. Thankfully, my armor was still in its place where I had left it. Rapidly I began equipping it, stopping only when I had to install the invisibility unit. All of this was done as quietly as possible. A couple of times there was the snap of a buckle that sounded like a bullet going off, but neither of the Freelancers in the room gave any hint that they had heard. When everything was equipped, I hailed Psi.

"Now or never, Psi.

Within mere seconds, I watched as my entire body became invisible. I hesitated once before sneaking around the corner to observe Oregon and Ct. _Perfect._ I tried to sneak across the floor as quietly as possible, making sure to avoid exercise equipment and all manner of hazards. CT and Oregon had gone quiet, apparently listening for anyone intruding, but as the power was restored they began talking again.

"General Gray wants all the information we have on the Freelancers currently being trained. He wants another one captured, preferably someone near the top. How the fuck does he expect that to happen, CT? I practically gift-wrapped Colorado, and she STILL managed to escape, and kill William on the way out."

I was getting tired of people talking about Arizona, and hearing how Oregon had betrayed the entire team only made me angrier. Psi was trying to calm me down by reminding me how valuable information could save Freelancer lives, but I could tell that he was curious as to why I was getting so angry. Sighing, I tried to conjure up all of my memories with CT and Oregon. He analyzed these, and I tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

"Oregon, we need to find a way to bring one of them in. It's the only way we're going to get enough information to take down this project and the Director. I'm going to try and access his databases and see what information he's hiding. I'm positive that there's something wrong."

_The only thing wrong here, CT, is how you're willing to stake other Freelancer lives on this hunch. Traitors!_ The Director was helping us to better ourselves for the good of mankind. How was that wrong in any way? I narrowed my eyes and began to stand up, intent on confronting them. However, Psi hailed me. _No, Colorado! Confronting them will only endanger you further, particularly if the Director chooses to ignore the evidence. He may decide to use you as bait to weed out other traitors._ Exasperated, I crouched down to begin this mental battle. _If it's my life to save North's, I will gladly act as bait. Deactivate the invisibility unit, Psi._ I could feel his stubborn refusal and prepared to deactivate the unit myself, but I felt my armor lock up. The invisibility was still active, but I couldn't move. _Psi, what the hell?!_ It took him a moment to respond. _I am sorry, 'Rado, but there are two of us in here now, and you aren't the only one with a final say. _I felt my anger boiling to the surface, but now that I was helpless, I could not blow my cover. Who knew what lengths CT and Oregon would go to keep their dirty little secret a secret.

I listened for around a half hour more. CT and Oregon discussed possible targets of the top ten Freelancers. Carolina had been ruled out almost immediately, the reasoning being that, though she was the number one Freelancer and most likely to have information, she was just far too dangerous. Maine, too, had been ruled out simply because he received orders and followed them, no details necessary. York and Wyoming were considered plausible, and I felt bad for anyone who kidnapped Wyoming. He'd probably be able to just convince his captors to let him go if he told enough jokes. South was ruled out as being too much of a loyalist to the project. However, the conversation about North took an interesting turn.

"Ok, so Maine is out. What about North? He's currently recovering from surgery and should be down for another couple of days."

"An interesting idea, Oregon, but North won't give up anything as long as he knows that South and Colorado are safe from harm."

"So why not try and take two? South's his twin, surely the two would want to protect each other."

"Are you kidding? South would probably welcome any opportunity to get rid of North. She feels like she's always in his shadow."

That piece of information was valuable, and I tucked it away for later. If South tried to endanger her brother, she'd have me to answer to.

"Ok, what about Colorado? She escaped once, but General Gray has learned from his mistakes since then. And he stated himself that he would love to see her again."

Now that I didn't like the sound of. In fact if I never saw General Gray again it would be far too soon. If he were actively looking to "acquire" me again, I'd have to be more careful.

"Plausible. And Colorado is obviously more protective of North than South is. We'll talk about this more later though, Carolina is bound to come in here sooner or later to work out."

Oregon and CT left, and Psi released me from my locked armor five minutes later. I had to admit that he was smart; had he released me right after they left I probably would've chased them down.

"Psi, we need to go and tell North about this."

"Why not the Director, Colorado?"

He had abruptly stopped using my nickname, and figured it was because this was a serious matter.

"Because, Psi, I am curious as to what CT thinks is wrong with the program. If she finds out for me, I won't have to put either of us into harm's way. However North is a different story."

Psi still seemed unsure, but I ignored his musings and headed straight to the recovery room. North was there, as was Carolina. The two people I wanted to talk to the most right now. I sat down heavily in a chair, and the two looked over at me.

"Ok, 'Rado, spill. What's wrong?"

I looked at North and shook my head disbelievingly, trying to find the words to explain what I had heard. Before I could speak, Psi stepped in.

"Agent Colorado and I just witnessed a disturbing conversation between Agents Connecticut and Oregon. It appears that they wish to take Agent North and Colorado off of the ship and hold them for interrogation in order to get information on project Freelancer. In addition, Oregon has admitted that he was the one who sold Colorado out to General Gray."

It was an excellent summary, and Carolina stood up immediately after Psi was finished.

"I'm getting the Director, he needs to know about this."

I grabbed her arm.

"Carolina, wait, don't tell him yet. Don't you see this could truly be our chance to strike back at our enemies? They have all the information on us, but we don't have any on them. If North and I were "captured" by CT and Oregon, not only would we have sufficient evidence to prove their guilt, we would also get information on the Innies."

North was looking at me as if I had gone crazy, and Carolina had wrenched her arm out of my grasp. She wasn't walking away, but I could tell that she wasn't a fan of the idea even behind her helmet.

"Absolutely not, Colorado. I am not risking the lives of two agents when we could easily get rid of the traitors now. Besides, how do we even know it's the Innies they're working with? For all we know, it could be a test of loyalty to see how close of a team we are."

And there Carolina went, managing to come up with a perfectly reasonable explanation for something yet again. Hell, it could have been a test just for Psi and I since we had stumbled across them. I sighed and sat down again.

"I know what I heard, but maybe you're right. I won't say anything for now, and neither should one of you. However if I get even an inkling that Oregon and CT are truly threatening North and myself, I will not hesitate to beat them down myself."

There was a grimace in Carolina's voice as she responded.

"You're not the only one, Colorado. Until we're sure, I'll talk to York, Wash, Maine, and South about hanging around North in shifts to make sure the threat, if it's real, doesn't get carried out."

"You guys don't need to protect me; the docs are letting me leave tomorrow, and then I'll be back in action."

"Well then sometime in the next twenty-four hours would be the perfect time to strike, North. I'll go inform the others."

Carolina leaving had me breathing a little easier, though I had forgotten to tell her about the Director's orders, and she didn't even seemed phased by Psi's presence. The Director had probably filled her in personally after all. Just in case he hadn't, however, I'd be sure to tell her later.

"'Rado? I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

"What, about Oregon and CT?"

"Well yes, but the less I knew about them, the more comfortable I'd feel. I mean about you, personally. You seem more stressed than normal."

I sighed, hating how much I was keeping from him, but at the same time wary to share with him about my recent nightmares.

"It's nothing I can't handle myself, North."

"Come on, 'Rado. We're a team, and I might be able to help if you told me."

"North, trust me, I can take care of my problems myself. I'm not going to burden you with them."

"It's not a burden, 'Rado, I can-"

"North, please. I'll come by tomorrow to see how you're doing."

I turned and left the recovery room, anxious to get to the safety of my own quarters. I kept my armor with me instead of returning it to the armory. For the last three months it had been my routine to stow my armor in an easily accessible place and keep a magnum within arms reach. Now that I at least had a plausible face to match to our Freelancer traitor, I was hoping I could rest a little bit easier. Instead I woke up several times, dreams of Arizona's threats keeping me awake as well as Oregon stabbing me in the back. For the first time in years, I wondered what the hell I was fighting for. I obeyed orders like a robot, and had seen the deaths of friends and other Freelancers, but I couldn't think of the cause they had died for. Humanity? So much for that, we always found one excuse or another to kill each other. Why was I fighting?

I felt so overwhelmed with these thoughts and day after day I pretended to be ok. In reality, my time with the Arizona had scarred me more mentally than I had ever let on. I felt silent tears make their way down my cheeks and realized that for the first time in years, I felt more broken than when Blake had died.

_**Wow, quite a chapter for me o_o in fact I was going to write more, but it would have probably gone another 1000 words, and that's just a bit too long for me xD have no fear though, chapter three will continue Colorado's mental calamity. And before anyone asks, yes, she does have depression. In that respect, Colorado is my way of channeling my own feelings. After all, you can be the shoulder to cry on for others, but the true test is when your strength fails and YOU need a shoulder, who will be there for you?**_


	3. Chapter 3: Calamity in Colorado

_**And here is chapter 3 :D Enjoy the show! Oh, one thing! I will be leaving for vacation this coming Sunday, so there will be no update for the week. However I will update on the Sunday after ;) I'll give you a little teaser though to get you excited: South and Colorado finally exchange their thoughts about one another.**_

_**Chapter 3**_

As I sat there with silent sobs wracking my body, I couldn't help but remember the morning of my escape. Arizona had forcefully roused me from unconsciousness, and the effects of his poison were still in affect. He had slammed the file of his down on the table and began preaching to me about every single thing I had done in the military that had earned me reprimands and a reputation of being ruthless. I could remember his every sentence word for word as he had brought up old demons.

_I hadn't known what to be more pissed at: the fact that Arizona had injected me with this fucking serum, or that he had purposefully woken me up while it was still in affect. Regardless, the bastard hadn't even bothered to offer me a chair, and I wouldn't have accepted anyway. Instead I remained in my little corner, knees drawn up to conceal my grimaces of pain each time my heart pumped._

_ "Colorado. Do you know what this file is? This is your life's story, and let me tell you, I had never realized how brutal you were until I read some of the things in here. Like, oh, this story. You were suspended from duty for three months for willfully shooting the families of known Insurrectionists, and that included women and children."_

_ I refused to acknowledge him. That was in the past now, and I had sworn never to lose control of myself again. That day had been the fourth "anniversary" of Blake's death. I had already been strained from the emotional stresses of dealing with his death, and when some Innies had started spouting defiant bullshit, I had lost my cool. In order to restrain me, it had taken four men and a really strong pair of handcuffs. I hadn't killed the Innies themselves because I wanted them to watch as they lost everything they had cherished. I had lost only Blake, but after that my world seemed to deteriorate. My mother had succumbed to depression and overdosed on depression pills. My father had to work two jobs to be able to keep us supported, so I rarely saw him. Thus I had joined the military in order to bring closure to Blake's death in whatever way possible, and to help my father out._

_ I doubted that Arizona knew any of my motives except for Blake's death. Even if he did, I highly doubted that he cared. The only reason that Arizona was bringing up these events from the past was to make me squirm and tear me down mentally._

_ "Nothing to say, Colorado? Ok, here's another one that surprised me. According to this report, you were going to be reassigned to a non-combat position because of your brutality towards the enemy. Apparently your unit had a problem with you "marking" the enemies you killed. Your knife almost seemed to see more action than your gun!"_

_ Yet another moment that I wasn't proud of, but would not regret. My actions made me who I was, and regrets were for the weak. If I couldn't handle the consequences of my own actions, I wouldn't have joined the UNSC in the first place. However, Arizona just kept talking. He touched on how I had joined the military after the Covenant war, making it seem like I was a coward. When he brought up my mother, I finally snapped._

_ "According to your records, your mother OD'ed on depression pills. Well, how ironic."_

_ I had shot up, despite the seething pain that was working through my body._

_ "Shut the FUCK up about my mother, you have no idea who she was!"_

_ "Oh don't I? Helen Alexander was only forty-two when Blake died, and she died only a year later at age forty-three. Before her unfortunate loss, she worked as a waitress, am I correct?"_

_ I said nothing, contenting myself to stare daggers at his smug features. He smirked and looked back down at the file. Finally, he pulled out a picture._

_ "And who is this? According to this little report, you were reprimanded for inappropriate contact with a Corporal Aaron Gunny. Is this he?"_

_ That face! Deep brown eyes and brown hair to match. His voice came rushing back to me. __**Don't forget me, Serena! **__Aaron had been the man I first loved, cut down by Insurrectionists as we raided a house looking for a high priority target. When Aaron had died, that was when I had truly broken down for the first time. With Blake I had pretended to be strong, but as Aaron died in my arms, I couldn't hold back the flood of tears or the anger that came over me. Our mission had been to eliminate enemy forces and secure the VIP for questioning, but I tossed all of that out of the window. Every room I entered I became the Grim Reaper. No one escaped the sights of my gun, and the house became a mess of bodies and blood. When I reached the VIP, he had calmly stood, and was unarmed._

_ "So tell me, soldier, when did the UNSC begin training monsters?"_

_ I hadn't answered. I had lifted my pistol and let loose one bullet into his skull. One bullet became two and then and then four, and I shot him until my clip was empty. He was virtually unrecognizable, and I didn't want anyone to know what I had done. So I had rigged some explosives up and blown the building to bits. However, the UNSC had somehow figured out that I had disobeyed orders. I was going to be dishonorably discharged, but Project Freelancer took me up instead. The Director seemed impressed by my actions, and offered me a place as an agent in the project. I had no home to return to, and nowhere else to go, so I had accepted._

_ "Day-dreaming, Colorado? So that was how you had gotten into Project Freelancer. I never would've guessed. From your behavior, I expected you to be some sort of mysterious war hero, certainly not a woman committing war crimes left and right for revenge. Guess they just don't make heroes like they used to."_

_ That had been the final straw for me. I remember that I had risen up and flung myself at Arizona, but my anger was clouding my judgment, and he easily countered me and rendered me unconscious with a quick slam to the desk._

Even now that session swam in my head continuously, and Psi appeared on my shoulder. Though he had a helmet, I could tell that he was concerned.

"Agent Colorado, your vitals are all over the place. You really should see a medical professional for these memories."

"I'm fine, Psi. I don't need anybody to help me."

I closed my eyes and brought my knees up to my face, hiding the view of my room.

"'Rado, as your partner, I am telling you that you are NOT fine. How long has this been going on?"

"Psi-"

"How long, Colorado?"

"…Three months. I can't think of anything else. Arizona brought up everything I was ashamed of and made me see what kind of monster I truly was. Maybe I still am. Every time I shoot an Innie down I take satisfaction in it, Psi. I mean, shit, I lopped an Innie's hand off with a sword and felt absolutely no remorse. What kind of person becomes so accustomed to killing that she gets actual pleasure from it?"

"You're not a monster, Colorado. You are doing what you were trained to do: take down the enemy."

"Damn it, Psi. There is a difference between doing something bad because you have to, and doing something bad because you WANT to. The entire time I was in the service of the UNSC, I wanted to kill any Innie I could get my hands on. I've killed armed men and unarmed children. All of those deaths are on my hands because I wanted payback for my brother, and for Aaron. What does that make me?"

"Colorado, you cannot blame yourself for past mistakes. All of it is in the past; why is it affecting you so much now?"

"Because the past makes me who I am. Every mistake influenced me in some way. I am a killing machine, Psi. I've killed in cold blood and in self-defense. All to pay homage to two dead loved ones. No one on this ship will understand that. If any of the Freelancers knew how far I had gone for revenge… they wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"They are your friends, Colorado, and North is very special to you. They would do their best to understand."

"You can't understand the psyche of a psychopath, Psi. Please, log off."

"You aren't-"

"I said log off, Psi."

"Complying."

As soon as he was gone, I fitted myself with my under armor and then my armor and headed to the training room. It was only three AM; even Carolina was probably still sleeping. The training room was dark, and I looked around for manual controls. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any.

"FILSS? Please turn on the lights in the training room."

The lights flipped on.

"Good morning Agent Colorado! You are up early this morning."

"Couldn't sleep, FILSS. Could you please run the hand-to-hand combat simulation?"

"Of course. Initializing hand-to-hand combat."

The familiar green panels began circling around me, and I fought tooth and nail to bring them all down quickly and efficiently.

"Agent Colorado, you have shown a fifteen percent increase in efficiency."

"Thanks FILSS, but I don't need to know how efficient I am. Please just continue to run it until I say so."

"Very well, resetting hand-to-hand combat simulation."

I don't know how long I was in there, however as soon as the training room door opened, I stopped what I was doing to see who had entered. I wasn't surprised when I saw Carolina, however I was surprised to see her shut the door and walk over to me. I went back to concentrating on the simulation, but Carolina apparently had other ideas.

"FILSS, please shut down the simulation."

"Of course, Agent Carolina."

Annoyed, I removed my helmet and brushed an unruly strand of hair behind my ear.

"What was that for? I'm trying to keep on my toes!"

"We need to talk, 'Rado. Psi contacted me and told me what you've been going through. Why haven't you gotten help? You're on my team, Colorado, and I want everyone to be in top physical and mental shape. Now you're not leaving until you tell me everything that's going on."

I huffed, both embarrassed and furious that Psi had just gone behind my back. What, was he going to tell the entire project?

"Psi, get out here!"

"Yes, Colorado?"

"Didn't I very specifically say that I didn't want anyone to know?"

"You did, but you never made me promise not to tell anyone myself. As Carolina is team leader, she was my first choice. North was going to be my second choice."

"I can deal with my problems myself, Psi!"

"Colorado, Psi did the right thing. He said you've been having issues for three months."

"Oh? What else did Psi say?"

My voice held a warning tone, but Carolina didn't seem deterred in the least.

"Psi informed me of your memories about your time in captivity, and about your conversation earlier this morning. You are wrong, Colorado, I will try my best to understand why you did the things you did."

I sighed and closed my eyes, silently cursing Psi for getting me into yet another awkward conversation. I was surprised that he was looking out for me despite my bad attitude towards him. As for Carolina, I was grateful that she was so earnest, but I was hesitant to be so open. If I had been asked me five months ago if I was prepared to spill my guts to Carolina, I would've laughed and denied even hanging out with her. Now, at this moment, I realized how my answer had changed from a vehement no to a maybe. Carolina motioned me over to a bench near the door, and I willingly followed. I could feel Psi encouraging me to tell Carolina everything I had told him.

"Ok, Carolina, I'm going to start at the beginning. No questions until the end unless you want something clarified."

And I told her everything. My entire military career, front to back, the good and the bad; nothing was left secret. As I explained, I started to feel just a little bit better that I was free from keeping everything to myself. I mean, I had Psi, but he just wouldn't understand like a human would. Carolina sat patiently, asking a question every now and then or nodding along. When all was said and done with, I set out a sigh of relief. Carolina herself was quiet and she turned to me after I was finished speaking.

"I can see why you think that this project is all you have left. But Colorado, we aren't just fellow agents; we're also a family of sorts. A very chaotic and argument prone family, but a family nonetheless. I don't care what you did in the past, what matters is what you do now."

I snorted in amusement. I was grateful, but wasn't so sure that everyone could honestly understand me.

"I try to tell myself that, Carolina, but the past makes me who I am."

"The past influences us, but it does not define us. Don't let what you did years ago control you now."

"Then what do I fight for, Carolina, if not for those I've lost?"

"Fight for those you haven't lost."

At that, she patted my shoulder and left the room. I watched her leave, and noticed Psi was sitting on my shoulder.

"Psi, I'm sorry. I know you were just trying to help."

"It's ok, Colorado. Just promise you will talk to me when you're feeling bad. You don't have to be strong all of the time."

I chuckled dryly and stood up to head to the locker rooms for a quick shower before breakfast. It was already five AM, and the other Freelancers would soon be getting up. I stowed my armor in my locked along with my under armor, and grabbed a towel. The hot water further calmed me down, and I sighed in ecstasy. If every morning could be as calm as this, life would be perfect.

I geared up quickly after I finished bathing. The mess hall was bound to be full soon with personnel waking up to do their daily duties. However, nothing was more threatening to the supply of food than hungry Freelancers. With this thought in mind, I hustled to the cafeteria and was pleased to see it open, but nearly nobody was in. A few early-rising Freelancers were there, most notably Carolina and CT. The two women weren't speaking to each other, but I gave Carolina a wave before getting my own food. I picked up a breakfast burrito and headed to the table where Carolina was. I sat my tray down next to hers and slid into the seat.

"Hey Carolina, has the training schedule for today been put up?"

"Actually, no matches were scheduled for today."

I blinked in surprise; the Director usually worked us to the bone. If we weren't on missions, we were almost always training.

"Do we have a mission today?"

"Not that I know of."

This surprised me even further; the Director was not one to give his agents free down time. I expected a catch of some kind in the future, though I couldn't guess what. From then on, Carolina and I ate in silence, occasionally looking up to see people entering the cafeteria. By the time I had finished eating, Maine and York were entering the cafeteria. I cleaned off my tray and grabbed an extra burrito for North before throwing the two entering Freelancers a wave and exiting the mess hall. North had said he was getting out of the recovery room today, and his armor had already been repaired.

When I entered the room, North was up and talking with Wash. I walked over and handed North the burrito. The look on his face was reward enough for me; he looked like a kid on Christmas. I smiled and kissed him, amusement dancing in my eyes.

"So I guess hospital food hasn't killed you yet. Here's a little bit of a reprieve. When are you getting out today?"

""Rado, you're a lifesaver. The medical bay has some of the best technology on the ship, but the food is complete shit."

Wash nodded in agreement.

"You never want to get stuck in the recovery room for more than a day. If your wounds don't kill you, the food will."

I laughed, feeling my mood lift.

"Oh, Wash, you've been looking like you're in a daydream for a few days now. What's going on?"

Though he had his helmet on (really, Wash NEVER seemed to take his helmet off!), I could see his fidgets of nervousness. North and I grinned at each other wickedly.

"Come on, Wash, 'Rado already knows what's going on, you might as well tell her."

"She does?! Did you tell her?"

"Nope, I was eavesdropping."

Wash grumbled a few inaudible words and sighed.

"Ok, well this agent came in last week. Her name is Kansas, and she's good; really good. As in beat-up-South-in-training good."

I raised my eyebrow with interest. I had heard of a new agent coming in, but I had yet to run into her. This was the first I was getting to hear about her abilities. North, though, was grinning from ear to ear.

"And what else about Kansas, Wash?"

"So I like her, big deal! You are completely fucking whipped for 'Rado."

This sent all of us into a fit of laughter, and I looped my arm into North's.

"Well, we all know that North just can't resist me. Congrats though, Wash. When are you going to ask her out?"

"Um. I don't know. I don't even think she likes me. Whenever I try to talk to her she gets really nervous."

Psi popped up on my shoulder, intrigued.

"Isn't that a human's way of showing affection? Colorado always gets… dreamy… when she thinks about North."

I felt my cheeks go red as Wash and North burst out laughing.

"Psi!"

"I am only speaking the truth! I'm not going to lie about it. Actually you're quite charming when you're daydreaming. There's a considerable lack of brain function."

This sent the boys into a harder laughing fit, and I slammed my palm into my forehead. Psi was a fantastic partner in crime, but he really needed to work on filtering the information that came out of his mouth. Wash looked thoughtful.

"So you got an AI, 'Rado?"

"Yes, this is Psi. The Director implanted him into me to help run my equipment."

"I am also here to assist Colorado in her emotional trials."

"Psi…"

"Sorry."

"Huh. I heard Wyoming saying that the Director was going to give him an AI as well. I think his name was Gamma? It was something like that. His implantation isn't going to be for a little while though. Apparently we have a big mission coming up soon."

"That's what I thought; the Director hasn't scheduled any training matches for today."

"How boring. The day I get out of recovery and I don't even get to watch any matches."

I patted North's hand sympathetically, but turned as Wash spoke again.

"Well I've got to split. I need to make a meeting. See you two lovebirds later!"

The gray Freelancer hurried out and towards the bridge, leaving North and I alone.

"So, Agent Kansas, huh?"

"Ya, he's had an eye on her since she got here. She's about as tall as Wash, just a bit shorter. Oh, she's got blonde hair and green eyes. You'll know her when you see her."

"Why is that?"

"Well she's a bit shy, but she has this habit of sizing other agents up she sees them. Actually, I really want to see you and her in a match. She's more like Maine when it comes to strategy."

"Strategy? He just beats the shit out of everything."

"Exactly."

"Yikes, a female version of Maine?"

"Except she's got more strategy to her strength."

"Hm, well maybe we'll have a match sometime. Until then do you want to bust out of here early and take a walk?"

""Rado, I thought you'd never ask."

Together we aimlessly wandered around the _Mother of Invention_, and Psi would ask us questions. We answered as best as we could, and after a few hours we noticed Wash walking ahead of us. North tapped me on the shoulder.

"Hey, I overheard a couple of the agents saying that Wash's meeting was with internals. I'm going to ask him about his meeting."

"Why does that matter?"

He hesitated for a second.

"I may have used equipment in the field when we were on route back to the _Mother of Invention_."

I looked at him, eyes wide.

"Equipment in the field? You didn't have anything to help you run it! Don't you remember what happened to Utah?"

We had all been there to watch Utah's first trial with his energy shield. The damn thing had only covered his head, and he'd nearly suffocated. I couldn't believe that he'd dare to try using his own equipment after Utah's little incident.

"How much trouble did you get in?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm going to ask Wash."

"Alright, I'll catch up in a bit."

He nodded and ran to catch up to Wash.

"It appears that Agent North has recovered admirably from his wounds."

I turned to look at Psi.

"Nothing ever keeps North down for long. With his physique, he'll probably be back in training by the day after tomorrow."

"That assessment seems correct, but I can tell that you're still worried about him."

"Hard not to be. In our line of work every day could be our last. I just hope this shit with the Innies ends soon so we can all relax."

"That seems highly unlikely. However, until the war ends I will always be here to help you."

I grinned, feeling myself warm up to Psi even more. He was a great little friend to have.

"Thanks, Psi."

"I'm here to help."

I allowed silence to reign between us as the hallway grew longer. A few soldiers started running by us, and at first we thought nothing of it. However, one stopped and started talking to Wash before taking off again, North turned and beckoned to me.

"What was that all about?"

"Apparently there's a three on one taking place in the training room; some new agent against Maine, Wyoming, and York."

"Shit, I've got to see this."

"I'm right behind you there!"

_**Enjoying the story so far? Leave a review after you finish to let me know ;) A special shout-out to TheDeadAngel, who first suggested Agent Kansas to me as Wash's love interest!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Power Shift

_**Chapter 4, and everyone's favorite black-armored badass comes out to play ;) Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. I read every review and take it to heart :) it means a lot to know that people are enjoying what I write. I didn't intend to update this week, but I finished this early and decided to update before I left for LA. I'll be updating again next Sunday.**_

_**Chapter 4**_

As we walked into the training room, we found South, Carolina, and CT already present. Carolina was pacing, while South and CT were watching the training room field.

"What's going on down there? There's no training sessions on the schedule."

South replied without taking her eyes off of the field.

"It's impromptu.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Some new recruit."

Looking down at the field, I watched as Maine and York leapt up from the floor and rushed at the single target. I felt my eyes widen as I recognized the armor; I had seen her talking with the Director on the bridge. Whoever she was, her moves were impressive, and I watched with shock as she knocked both Maine and York on their asses in mere seconds.

"Wow, he sure doesn't move like he's a recruit."

South looked at Wash, and I could only imagine the contempt on her face.

"Why do you assume it's a guy? _She's_ a girl"

I chuckled at South's tart tones, and laughed even harder as Wash struggled to correct himself.

"Oh-I didn't really mean that he… I mean it… Oh, I mean _her_… I-"

"Right."

"Sorry."

"Just shut up, Wash."

"Both of you, can it."

I drowned out the arguing and looked back to the field. The three men surrounded the woman, but she held all of the Freelancers off with ease. Her moves were incredible, and she had a speed that matched Carolina's. Hit after hit she landed, until finally only Maine was left standing, and only by a hair. The woman quickly went to work, spinning her pugilstick around expertly and nailing every hit. A loud crack echoed, and the head of her stick snapped off as she slammed it onto Maine's head. He tried to get up, but ended up pitching down to one side and falling over, as if he was drunk.

"Round one, over. Pugilsticks training complete. Point awarded to Texas. The current score is Team 1, zero points, Texas, one point."

I raised an eyebrow in interest and looked to the others; all of them seemed to be realizing the same thing.

"Texas, huh?"

"I thought that name was reserved."

"Nice moves though."

"Could be luck. We'll see."

Carolina seemed to be more fidgety now, and as hand-to-hand combat began, I felt like I was staring at Carolina's ultimate match. Texas was a complete beast on the field, weaving this way and that and expertly blocking hits. Though Maine, Wyoming, and York were well trained and among the best agents in the program, Texas was putting them away like amateurs. Maine and Wyoming seemed to be especially sloppy; York had obviously been trying to give them orders, but neither of the two Freelancers had been listening. I shook my head, and watched just in time to see Texas punch Wyoming and kick Maine, before landing and kicking York over for good measure.

"Wow!

"Whoa-kay, _that_ was pretty impressive."

I couldn't help but agree with North. For a new agent, Texas was kicking some major ass. Carolina was staring quietly down at the field, and it appeared that South and CT had no commentary to make.

"Round over. Point Texas. Hand to hand combat complete. Now resetting the floor, for lockdown paint scenario."

Wash growled slightly.

"Ah… I hate that paint."

"Tell me about it. It stings like a bitch."

North nodded.

"Turns your armor hard as a rock."

I chuckled bitterly.

"Plus it's embarrassing as hell for everyone to see where you got shot."

"I wouldn't know."

All of us turned to Carolina.

"It's not bad if you don't let it hit you."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. Carolina wasn't my enemy, but she had a habit of being egotistical sometimes. South was annoyed as well, but no one retorted except for Wash.

"Thanks. I'll try to remember that."

Round after round passed, and each time Texas took down Maine, Wyoming, and York with no trouble. When the three finally started to actually work together tactically, it had done little to help them except to delay the inevitable. I shook my head and looked to the others. Everyone had their eyes glued to the floor, and a few more soldiers had slipped in the room to watch. By now it was the last round. York seemed tired of fighting already and wanted the round to be over. Watching Wyoming and Maine, I saw them pass something between them. _What are they up to?_ As soon as the round began, all of us found out. Pillars began exploding as Wyoming and Maine blasted at Texas with their magnums.

"What? Are they using live rounds on the training floor?"

"Looks like it."

"That's against protocol, they're going to kill her!"

"Probably."

I frowned at CT's casual comments, and felt my fists clench. We were all supposed to be a _team_, and trying to kill each other during training was just outrageous.

"Someone should get the Director."

At this, I heard CT scoff.

"The Director? Who do you think gave them the ammo?"

I turned towards her in shock, but is was Carolina who stepped in.

"Watch your mouth CT."

Silence fell and we all looked back to the training floor. York appeared to be trying to help Texas, but from the she was acting she didn't appear to appreciate the gesture. The fight seemed to be agonizingly slow. Texas managed to glue Maine's hand to the pillar, but Wyoming grazed her shoulder with a bullet. Undeterred, she punched him out, took out York's pistol, and covered Wyoming in paint before slamming him headfirst into a pillar. I thought the fight was over with, but Maine ripped his hand free and charged at Texas. His fist slammed into the weakened pillar. Texas dodged, but York took the rock head on and slammed to the ground. Now Texas got up close and personal. After a few well-placed punches, she had her opening and sprayed Maine with paint. However, he managed to knock out the pin of the grenade and chuck it. Tex dodged it, but it rolled next to York instead! I felt my eyes grow wide with horror.

"No…"

York was still dazed from the pillar and wouldn't move. Then, Texas raised her pistol and covered him in paint just as the grenade exploded.

"Damn it, those maniacs!"

"FILSS, we need a medical team to the training floor STAT!"

All of us ran out of the room and down to the training floor. York was moaning in pain, but the other three Freelancers seemed relatively unhurt. My helmet was off, and I glared daggers at Wyoming and Maine. Those bastards had nearly killed York. That's not what teams were supposed to do. The medical team followed in right behind us, and they all fanned out to take care of different Freelancers. A few of the medics came over to get York, and we backed off a respectful distance to let them work. South looked at York, and I was surprised at the soft disbelief that presented itself as she spoke.

"I can't believe she did that to him. Shot him, sacrificed him like that."

Wash seemed more thoughtful.

"Lockdown hardens the armor; she probably saved his life."

"Quick thinking."

"Yeah… real quick."

The suspicion in Carolina's voice surprised me, and I couldn't help but look over to Freelancer's newest agent, who had sparks flying from her arm. That I shrugged off; maybe her arm had been lost in the past war and had been replaced by a bionic one. There was nothing suspicious about that, and I couldn't understand what had Carolina in such a twist.

"Everyone! Stand down, now! You should be ashamed of yourselves. I expect you to act as a team."

I scoffed internally. Ya, since shooting at each other with live rounds during training was considered "teamwork."

"They used live rounds on the field, Sir, that's against regulation."

The Director leaned towards Wash, intimidating him enough to cause him to stumble backwards.

"Do you think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield, Agent Washington?"

All of the Freelancers went quiet, but I opened my mouth to speak. Wash, however, beat me to it.

"So you're not punishing them?"

"Ingenuity, and adaptability, are admirable traits. You should all learn something from this. Dismissed."

I stepped forward aggressively.

"With all due respect, _Sir_, we are not enemies to each other. And maybe you should be ashamed of yourself to allow two agents to get away with nearly killing another."

The Director turned around, disbelief and anger on his face. The look made me want to flinch back, but I held my ground as best as I could.

"Remember who is in charge here, Agent Colorado. Maybe if York had been more aware of his surroundings, this wouldn't have happened."

"So now you're victim blaming? Shit, Director, are we going to give Purple Hearts to Maine and Wyoming next?"

"You are dismissed, Agent Colorado."

"Yes, _Sir_."

I practically sneered this, and North clasped a hand on my shoulder. Most of the fury left me, and I turned back to the group. Most everyone had their helmets on, but I could imagine the surprise on their faces. For the moment, there was no way I could care less. The Director was acting as if York was an acceptable casualty, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Maine and Wyoming were ahead of me on the board, but next time we'd train together, I'd beat them into the ground. The Director left the room, leaving crews to clean up the shards of the fight. I shook my head in disbelief and turned to leave. It was noon by now, and time for lunch.

Following out with North, South, Carolina, and Wash, all of us were silent. After what we had seen happen to York, normal conversation seemed out of the question. The mess hall had its usual bustle, no one in the room knowing what had just occurred in the training room. As for the five of us, we were quiet as we got our food and headed to our usual table. York's absence was like a blow horn in the silence, and I finally slammed my hand on the table.

"This is bullshit! For someone who is so set on protocol, the Director sure isn't ready to enforce it!"

North yet again placed a calming hand on my shoulder, and for whatever reason, South glared at the two of us. I looked at her, my nerves already frayed, and Psi decided to make an appearance before I could start yelling at the woman who had been my best friend.

"Agent Colorado, I recommend finishing lunch and heading to the gym for us to practice on our synchronization for future deployments."

South looked surprised, and I realized that she had never met Psi. Then, her eyes narrowed.

"When did you get an AI, Colorado?"

I sighed, not wanting her to make a scene.

"I got Psi a couple of days ago, South. We can talk about it later."

She stood up glowering.

"No, we're going to talk about it now. You're number NINE on the board, why the fuck did the Director give YOU an AI before any of us?"

People were looking over at our table now, curious as to what the subject was of South's fury. I could tell that more than a few were surprised to see me taking the heat. However if they thought I was just going to sit down and take South's shit, they were sadly mistaken. I could feel Psi urging me not to make it worse, but I ignored him. This conversation had been a long time coming.

"You think that because your name is higher than mine on a board you deserve things over me? Grow the fuck up, South! You better get used to Psi and I hanging around for the long run, because we're back on Carolina's team. Next time you need someone to save your sorry ass, remember that."

I picked up my tray and moved to clean it off, but South's voice stopped me.

"Save me? You're more likely to kill me!"

I stopped, knowing full well whom she was referring to. North's voice broke into my growing haze of fury.

"South! That is enough, leave her alone!"

"Stay out of this, North. I don't even know what you see in her anyway."

Ouch. I was already insecure about how North saw me, but to have her question him directly, it sent my brain spinning. Psi was trying to calm me down, knowing full well what South had set off, and I gradually just started breathing. Without turning around, I replied to the violet Freelancer, my voice low and dangerous.

"You know NOTHING about Arizona or Nevada. I'm getting sick of people talking about it when they weren't there to see what happened. Now drop it, South, before I_ make_ you."

"'Rado…"

"No, North. If she wants to fight, I'm more than happy to oblige."

After watching this, Carolina finally seemed to step in.

"That is enough! South, leave 'Rado alone; the Director gave her Psi for a reason. 'Rado, don't rile South up anymore."

"No guarantees on that, Carolina. Next time South opens her mouth I'm going to shut it for her."

"That's it!"

I saw South lunge for me, and felt her land on me. The floor rushed towards me at what seemed like mach speed. My head made contact with the tiled floor harder than I would've liked since my helmet was absent, and stars danced across my vision. I elbowed South in the chest as hard as I could, and was rewarded as she toppled off of me and onto the floor. Snatching my helmet, I slammed it down on top of my head.

"_Ok, Psi, consider this your first taste of actual combat. Since you seem to find it fun to dig through my mind for shit, have you already seen South's fighting style?_"

"_I have. South seems to rely more on weapons and is not as strong in hand-to-hand combat. However I suggest exercising caution as she usually tries to trip her opponents._"

"_Duly noted. Psi, I want you to activate my thruster pack to dodge her punches in short bursts. Make sure I have enough power to dodge in succession. Can you do that?_"

"_Just watch me._"

There was a hardened determination in his voice, and I couldn't help but smile. South was going down. By now she had gotten off of the floor and retrieved her own helmet, before growling in fury and charging me. A calamitous roar from the other inhabitants had started. Basic soldiers knew better than to try and interfere with battling Freelancers (for entertainment and personal safety reasons), but our fellow Freelancers weren't so intelligent. As South rushed me, I saw Agent Hawaii try and stop her, but she easily punched him off and continued her mad dash. As she drew back her fist and threw it forward, I felt my thruster pack activate and swing me away from South. In retaliation, I slammed my right fist into South's head, and she stumbled back into a table, causing the seated personnel to scatter. I smirked and took a defensive stance, just waiting for South's inevitable retaliation. When her temper got the better of her, there was no stopping south until the bad mood was expelled from her system.

As expected, she came back from the hit admirably and charged once again. With each blow South tried to land, Psi easily countered with the thruster pack. However as her next blow rained down, I felt the impact slam into the side of my head and send me flying through a table.

"_Psi, what the Hell?_"

"_Thruster pack has been depleted, I recommend relying on your own skill now._"

I sighed, but leapt from the table to give it as well as I got. South and I clashed in a ring of watching Freelancers and soldiers, both of us attempting to pin the other, and neither of us succeeding. The fight finally came to a head as South managed to land an uppercut that threw my helmet clear off. Backing off, I felt the trickle of blood from a corner of my mouth, and wiped it away. South still had the stance of a fighter, but I looked instead to the observers. No other Freelancers had made a move to stop neither South nor myself, and everyone seemed to be watching with impassive faces.

"_'Rado! Duck!_"

I obliged quickly, and felt air rush over me as South's familiar violet armor came into view. With a quick reaction, I used as much of my remaining strength as I could to draw back my arm and slam it into South's gut. This sent her flying backwards, and she landed heavily on the floor. For a moment I was afraid I had hit too hard, but the regret didn't last long; South had brought this on herself. North went forward to help his sister up, but she shoved his arm away.

"I'm fine! Why don't you go help your princess over there?"

Irritation bubbled at me, and I couldn't resist a catcall.

"It doesn't look like I'm the damsel in distress here, South."

Further riled, she tried to scramble off of the floor, but Carolina hauled her back.

"Enough, South! We're leaving and you're getting checked in the medical bay for any injuries."

She struggled for a bit, but finally gave up as she realized that Carolina wasn't going anywhere. When the two women were out of sight, North took off his helmet and stalked over to me.

"What were you thinking, 'Rado? You know better than to encourage South's temper like that! Both of you are strong enough to do some serious damage to each other."

"She started it! I don't know what her problem is with me now, North. I'm hoping today's lesson ended whatever problem she had with me."

He looked at me sternly. I knew he was concerned about how I had come out of the fight, but he also wasn't happy that I had just willingly beat his younger twin up. A few observers stayed put to see what would happen between North and I (our relationship was common knowledge), and I glared around.

"Unless any of you want to encourage me to knock you around as well, I'd suggest carrying on with your business. There's nothing to see here."

Most everyone moved off, except for Oregon, whom walked over to North and myself. I felt the familiar rage burning inside of me; I hadn't forgotten his and CT's conversation in the gym.

"That was quite a scrap you had, Colorado. South said you got an AI?"

Inwardly, I cursed South's stupidity. She knew as well as all of us that the traitor aboard the _Mother of Invention _hadn't been caught yet. Openly mentioning Psi had just given my number one suspect important information. I opened my mouth to deny it, but Psi interrupted and requested my permission to speak. I was about to deny him, but he seemed determined to speak to Oregon himself. I sighed and gave the go ahead, and Psi materialized in front of me.

"What Agent South Dakota said is correct, Agent Oregon. My name is Psi. I am Colorado's partnered AI. Might I inquire as to why you're so interested?"

I chuckled a bit to myself inwardly. Psi was always formal when talking to other Freelancers and superiors, but he was really exaggerating it with Oregon. I was curious as to what Psi's goal was by talking to him, and allowed my partner to continue. Oregon himself seemed surprised, but with his helmet on I couldn't really tell.

"Well… all of us are kind of curious," he made a sweeping motion to the other Freelancers in the room, "we didn't know that the Director was going to begin implanting agents with AIs. Sounds like a good way for us to get the edge on the Innies."

_Fucking liar, you're probably working with them._ The thought came quickly, and there was no hesitation. North seemed to regard Oregon with a new sense of caution as well, and I grabbed his hand. He looked over, and a smiled a happy smile so Oregon wouldn't get suspicious.

"I'm going to clean myself up; I think I landed in some spaghetti earlier or something. My room in thirty minutes?"

He smiled back, and winked his left eye.

"I wouldn't miss it, 'Rado."

I chuckled and turned to Oregon.

"Sorry to interrupt your talk with Psi, but I've got to go. See you around."

I turned and walked out of the mess hall, and when I got to the security of the showers I sighed in relief. Just being NEAR Oregon was enough to make my skin crawl lately. If he did turn out to be the traitor I believed him to be, he'd get the same treatment as any Innie, and there would be absolutely no mercy.

I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed at the trickle of blood that had run from the corner of my mouth. South knew how to hit hard, but I was happy to see that she hadn't chipped any of my teeth. Using the shower, I stripped off my armor and got a wet rag to clean any and all food spots off. As it turned out, the worst thing I had landed in was lasagna, and twenty minutes later I was putting my armor away in my room. South certainly had done a bit of damage. Everywhere she had connected had a bruise, and I felt like my jaw had been broken, though she had probably just bruised the bone. It amazed me that someone I had once been so close with could be so brutal.

I sighed and changed into sweat pants and my Freelancer t-shirt. When I was ready, I called Psi out.

"Tell me you gained some insight into Oregon while you were talking."

He clasped his hand behind his back.

"I do not have the capabilities to tap his communications like you are hoping. I also cannot access his communication history. However I do have the capabilities to analyze his voice patterns, and he became quite nervous at my questioning of his motives."

I narrowed my eyes in thought. Much as I hated to admit it, being squeamish about an AI questioning you wasn't that suspicious, considering whenever FILSS asked about my relationship with North I wanted to disappear. However, Oregon was already in the top list of suspects. His behavior towards Psi was suspicious at best. I sighed, frustrated at today in general, but perked up as a knock sounded at my door. I smiled, already knowing whom it was.

"Come in!"

The door open, and a smiling North entered the room. He, too, was unarmored, and was dressed in standard lounge pants and his t-shirt. I got up from the bed and hugged him, planting a deep kiss on his lips. He pulled back and looked at me questioningly.

"What was that for?"

I snorted in amusement and locked the door behind him.

"What? A woman can't just kiss the man she loves now?"

North chuckled, and I felt his warm arms wrap around my waste. His chin rested on my right shoulder.

"Now let's not jump to conclusions… Normally you don't kiss me like that unless you're worried or relieved. I'm betting it's the former."

"A bit of both, actually."

He gently drew me over to the bed and sat down with me on his lap.

"Tell me what you're worried about, 'Rado. When you're worried, you're scared."

I smiled ruefully; North knew me too well.

"I don't know who to trust, North. Oregon and CT made it pretty damn obvious that they're against us, but what if Carolina's right and it really is just a test of loyalty? Do we bring them to the Director?"

"Of course we do. It's our duty to bring traitors to his attention. You seem hesitant to do so."

I sighed wearily.

"I'm just so sick and tired of losing people. Nevada, Arizona, South… How many more people am I going to lose or push away? I've lost... plenty during my military service, but the losses never get any easier."

He drew me closer in a hug.

"That's why you're worried? 'Rado, if Oregon and CT worked together to get you captured, I'm surprised you haven't beat the shit out of them already. Don't worry, you're always going to have Carolina, Wash, York, Wyoiming… the entire team is with you."

"And you?"

"What do you think?"

"I think nothing would stop you from having me."

"That's right. You can tell me anything and no matter what it is we'll work through it together."

I hadn't realized that tears had been pricking at my eyes until they slid slowly down my cheeks. I hadn't felt this vulnerable with anyone except for Aaron, and at the thought of him, I curled closer to North. He noticed this and turned me to face him. Surprise lit his face as he saw the tears.

"Hey, what's wrong, 'Rado?"

Psi took this moment to appear on the bed.

"Agent Colorado has been suffering from episodes of depression, Agent North Dakota."

This shocked him even more.

"'Rado, why haven't you told me about this?"

I hook my head and hid my face as much as I could with my shoulder-length hair.

"I-I didn't want you to worry about me. I already talked to Carolina about this, and only because Psi told her first."

"Bullshit, 'Rado, it's because you're afraid of being considered weak. Your emotions are not a weakness unless you believe them to be."

His tone was firm, and I almost felt like he was accusing me of something, but I knew North would never do that.

"I don't allow myself to feel many emotions, North. Whenever I let myself feel too much, something bad happens."

He looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and climbed onto the bed, taking his hands into my own.

"Whatever I tell you, I promise that it does not change how I feel about you. I love you, never forget that. Just… promise me that what you hear won't affect how you feel about me."

Unblinking, his blue eyes looked into my green ones.

"I promise, 'Rado."

I nodded and closed my eyes.

"First of all, I know this is against a shit-load of rules probably, but my name is actually Serena Alexander. I was part of a unit specifically made for hunting down top Innie officials and either killing them, or bringing them in for questioning. Years before I joined the marines, my brother Blake was killed during a gunfight between UNSC forces and Insurrectionist forces. My mother eventually overdosed on depression pills, and I rarely got to see my dad because he had to start working two jobs. Anyways, I joined with the UNSC with the intent to help my dad out, and to kill as many Innies as possible. I was good at it, too."

I took a deep breath, hating myself for what I was next going to say.

"There are a few reasons why I prefer SMGs, North. The first is because they are easy to carry. The second is because they require little to no aiming to use. The third is because of how close quarters they are. I enjoyed getting close to Innies just so I could see the fear in their eyes as I killed them."

North's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but otherwise he had a poker face on. Clearly he was going to wait for me to tell him everything before he talked.

"During one incident, I allowed my emotions to control my actions. It was an anniversary of Blake's death. A small group of us had been ordered to take down local known Insurrectionists. These Innies were with their families at the time. We rounded all of the rebels up, and had to divert some people to keep their relatives back. I was one of the ones chosen. I was already angry, North, but when the Innies started harassing myself and the other marines… I lost it. I killed the families of the Innies. I didn't even spare the children."

Looking at him now, north looked horrified, and I felt my heart breaking that that look had been brought on because of my actions.

"They removed me from active duty for three months. In that time… I met Corporal Aaron Gunny. We became… close. Close enough to warrant a warning of inappropriate conduct. He was the first man I ever really loved besides my brother and father. During one mission together we were sent to obtain an Innie colonel. The guy was well protected, and our intelligence hadn't given us an accurate number of their forces. It was supposed to be a two-man job, but Aaron and I were quickly overwhelmed," my voice grew slightly choked, "and he was killed while we were trying to get out. Instead of leaving, I fought back. I managed to take down the forces assaulting me, and then went from room to room of the facility, killing whomever I could find. When I got to the target, he asked me when the UNSC started training monsters. My mission was to bring him in, but I killed him. Wasted a whole clip on him when it took only a single bullet. Originally I was going to be discharged from the military, but that's when Freelancer picked me up."

Never before did I wish I could take back my actions. Everything I had done made me who I was today. However the look on North's face- disbelief, horror, and grief- made me wish everything that had happened had been just a bad dream. I reached for North's hand and took it cautiously, and looked at him.

"North?"

He looked at me sadly, and slowly drew his hand away, before standing and walking towards the door. I could only watch in disbelief, and more tears sprang to my eyes before sliding down my cheeks.

"You… you promised me. You promised that what I said wouldn't change how you felt."

He could only look at me, his normally shining blue eyes filled with regret.

"I just need time to think."

With that, he left the room. It had been painful getting shot. Getting punched in the jaw by South had hurt. However I realized now that there was no pain comparable to that of a broken heart.

_**So I know I said I wasn't going to update this week, but I just couldn't resist putting this chapter up. It's just… it's probably my most emotionally powerful chapter yet.**_


	5. Chapter 5: Phoenix Mode

_**So after last chapter I kind of left it at a cliffhanger xD I apologize for that, but hopefully you'll get a little bit of satisfaction out of this latest chapter. Also, you'll be pleased to know that I am going back through Wrath of the Rockies and making major grammatical corrections now that I am back from vacation :) as soon as I finish the edits in WotR, I'll start on this story.**_

_**Chapter 5**_

My room saw a lot more use in the week after my botched heart-to-heart with North. When I wasn't training, I was in my room, wondering why the hell I had thought that he would understand that the woman he had been dating was actually a monster. The other Freelancers noticed this and tried to coax out of me what was wrong, but I never answered. South seemed a little more cheerful, but I could tell that Carolina was both curious and hesitant to ask what had happened. Most everyone noticed that North and I weren't together like we used to be. I made it a point to avoid him whenever possible. When he was using the training room, I went to the gym. If he was in the mess hall, I waited until he left. Psi did his best to comfort me in that persistent way of his. However when his efforts had no effect, he began to grow pushy.

"Colorado, as your partner, I'm not going to let you stew on this. If you don't at least tell Carolina, I'll tell her for you."

I sighed, rubbing my hands over dry eyes.

"Go to hell Psi, I just want to be alone right now."

"You've been 'alone' for over a week now. You've been slacking in training, your friends have no idea what's wrong, and it's starting to affect your performance. Now either you go find Carolina and talk to her like you promised, or I'll com her myself and you can get lectured. Your choice."

Another sigh escaped my mouth.

"Call her, see if I care."

Psi gave what sounded like an annoyed grumble, and to my displeasure, decided to broadcast the call so I could hear it.

"Agent Carolina?"

"Psi, what can I do for you?"

She sounded tense, and I could only guess why.

"I request your presence in Agent Colorado's room. She requires some… persuasion to get her head back into this project."

"I'm on my way," she said with a hard tone.

I groaned and sat on my bed. I almost felt like a child about to be scolded by her mother. Sure enough, Carolina barged in without knocking and turned her gaze instantly to me, a frown creasing her face. Ever since Texas had showed up, Carolina had started training more furiously than ever. Judging by the sweat on her brow, Psi had caught her in the middle of a training session. Immediately, she sighed and sat down on the single chair to my desk.

"Ok Colorado, spill. Judging from what Psi told me, you weren't willing to come to me without a little push. What's going on with you and North? I haven't seen you two together in a week, and whenever he shows up you slink away like he's contagious."

Carolina clearly wasn't going to leave without an answer, so I decided to just get this conversation over with.

"I told him exactly what I told you a week and a half ago. He promised me that no matter what I told him it wouldn't change his opinion of me. He lied and just left me here wondering what the fuck I did wrong. He hasn't even bothered to come by, and I don't want to see him."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I can tell you're not telling me everything, 'Rado."

"Ok, you want to know why I haven't been performing at my best? Why I've decided that getting close to people is just going to keep biting me in the ass? He crushed me, Carolina. Are you happy now? I have no idea why I'm fighting now. You said to fight for those who are alive, but the only person I can trust fully right now is Psi, and he's not even human."

She watched my outburst impassively before crossing her arms.

"If you're so angry, come and train with me. Getting some of that anger out would do you some good, and I need a sparring partner. And remember, the Director is briefing us on our next mission today."

My eyes widened slightly. I had forgotten all about that. We had all been informed three days ago that the Director had a new objective for us to obtain, and he was only sending the best of us. Evidently South hadn't been invited, and her cheerful mood had evaporated quicker than water on the sun. That day I had gotten a grim satisfaction out of seeing South so infuriated, particularly when the messenger had requested my presence at the briefing. Carolina noticed my look and smirked slightly.

"Well, looks like you definitely need to work out if you forgot about the mission that quickly. Come on, get your under armor and your armor on. I'll wait outside."

As the door shut, I felt my mood improve for the first time in days. Carolina was right; I needed to get my mind off of everything and just beat the shit out of something. I rapidly put my gear on, minus my helmet, and tucked it under my arm. I could feel Psi's satisfaction.

"About time, 'Rado."

"Ya ya, don't flatter yourself about being in the right, Psi."

Amusement laced his voice now.

"With you, being in the right isn't a rare enough occurrence for me to be flattered."

Snorting in amusement, I went outside, and promptly ran straight into North. He also had his helmet off, and by the looks of it I had just interrupted a conversation between him and Carolina. My mouth fell open slightly. North looked slightly uncomfortable too, but he looked me squarely in the eyes, and he seemed regretful.

"Listen, 'Rado, can we talk for a bit? I just wanted to-"

It was in this moment, where my mood was finally bouncing back, that I narrowed my eyes and interrupted.

"Sorry North, but Carolina and I were just leaving to go spar with each other. Besides, I need to take some time to think."

With that final jab, I grabbed Carolina's arm and practically dragged her to the training room.

"He was probably about to apologize, why the fuck did you interrupt him?"

I spun on her, equipping my helmet as I talked.

"Several reasons, Carolina. One, if he thinks he can hurt me like that and merely give me a 'sorry' to make it right, he's wrong. Two, I am not going to deal with the stress of my fucked up relationship right now, and three, he deserves to squirm a bit for what he did."

I took up an offensive stance.

"So are we here to spar, or talk?"

Part of me was surprised at my sudden influx of venom towards North, and the other part was highly satisfied at how I had handled the situation. However all thoughts of North vanished as Carolina rushed at me. Psi urged me to dodge left, and I did so, but she immediately dropped and swung her leg to trip me. Already off-balance, I toppled over and she leapt for me, but I flung my legs up and kicked Freelancer's number one off of me. I scrambled off of the floor and rushed Carolina, with Psi urging me to go forward cautiously.

_**North's POV**_

As I watched 'Rado and Carolina go back and forth, I couldn't help but admire the grace with which both women fought. 'Rado had been taking a few more hits than Carolina, but that didn't surprise or disappoint me. I was actually pretty impressed with 'Rado wanting to willingly spar with Carolina, but she didn't know that. In fact 'Rado didn't know a lot of things since we hadn't talked in a week. After everything she had told me, my mind had just buckled. How could someone as proud and sweet as 'Rado willingly kill children? She had seemed regretful as she told me everything, but I just wasn't able to process that she had done something so horrific. However, I had probably done the dumbest thing possible to cope: I had walked away from her. Even after I had promised that it wouldn't change my view of her. Even after she had basically said that nothing had changed her view about me. I had tossed all of that out of the window and walked away.

After I had closed her door I could hear her crying, but I still hadn't turned around. Instead, I had ended up in the gym, beating the shit out of a punching bag.

"Agent North Dakota?"

I had turned around at the sound of my name, and saw the armor of Freelancer's very own Agent Kansas. For someone so quiet, her armor spoke volumes. It was your typical Venator set, but the edges seemed slightly sharper because of the blood red color and the blue trim. It went without saying that she made an imposing figure, and I could see why Wash was attracted to her. However there was only one woman I had fallen for, and she was in her room crying because of me.

"Can I help you, Agent Kansas?"

She shrugged and leaned against the wall.

"Well you can't do anything for me, but I just passed Colorado's room and heard her crying. I know you two are together, so what did you do?"

"Why do you assume that _I_ did something? Maybe it was 'Rado."

Kansas had taken off her helmet and raised an eyebrow.

"I've heard the rumors about Colorado being a hard-ass, North. I heard that she has never cried. Logically, the only person able to affect her so much, whether that is a negative or positive way, is you."

I had sighed and went back to punching my bag, not willing to put up with being interrogated by one of the project's newest agents.

"Don't you have something better to do?"

"I came here to work out. Finding you was just the icing on the cake. You realize you fucked up, right? Colorado is known to have quite the temper, and you're going to be on the receiving end of that when she loses the sadness and gets angry instead."

"How does that have anything to do with you at all?"

"It doesn't, but as a woman, I can guarantee that if the man I loved hurt ME like that, I'd make sure he'd know how much pain he caused me. Anyways, I'll leave you to your sulking. Wash wanted to spar me sometime and I think he's going to chicken out if I don't find him first. Good luck with Colorado, Agent North. Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn and all."

Kansas had left shortly thereafter, but her words had lingered. Had I really done so wrong by Colorado? Would she really hold a grudge against me? The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became. I wanted to apologize, but didn't know how to go about it. Going straight to her room at that moment had seemed like a bad idea. I figured if I waited a couple of days I could catch her alone and straighten things out. However as the days wore by, I rarely saw her, and when I did she immediately departed when she caught notice of me. Everyone was puzzled at her behavior and tried to get answers out of me, but only Wyoming and Wash had succeeded. Actually, they had locked themselves and me in my room until I told them everything. After I was done, I was not expecting the backlash from Wyoming.

"North, how can you be so fucking stupid? You love 'Rado, and on top of that, you promised her that you wouldn't leave her. You just managed to not only break your promise, but she also probably thinks that you hate her now. No wonder she's been avoiding you like the plague."

"What?! I could never hate 'Rado! Why would she think that?"

Wyoming had dropped his head in his hands and sighed; there was no trace of his usual joking self.

"North, you're so blind sometimes… when your significant other makes you promise that your view of them won't change, that's female speak for 'promise you won't leave me.' Guess what chap? You left her in a pool of misery. Have you tried apologizing yet?"

"No, I just thought she needed time to get over it!"

Wash had then gotten on my case.

"North, we're going to have to start planning your funeral, because 'Rado is going to kill you when she goes Phoenix mode."

Wyoming and I had both given him a strange look.

"Phoenix mode?"

"Yeah. When she gets over the sadness, she's going to rise from it and turn it into anger. In other words, she's going to either kill you, or just beat the shit out of you. Whether that is a physical or emotional beating is up to her."

"Come on, 'Rado wouldn't do that to me."

"Oh no? I bet she thought you wouldn't leave either, but look at what you did."

That had rendered me speechless, and it had taken another four days before I had mustered enough courage to apologize.

Well, almost apologize. Looking down at 'Rado now, I realized just how much trouble I was in. Each hit she delivered was filled with more power than necessary, and her refusal to listen to me earlier only solidified her attitude. 'Rado was definitely mad at me. I sighed and turned to leave, but the door opened before I got to it, and Wyoming walked in.

"Hello North, how did it go this morning?"

"See for yourself."

The marksman walked over to the window and looked down, whistling.

"She seems quite agitated."

"That's because she's pissed off. She didn't allow me to get any words in earlier."

"So what's your plan now?"

"Grab her as soon as she gets done with training and make her listen."

Wyoming chuckled dryly.

"Yes, good luck with that. Remember we have the briefing in about fifteen minutes now."

I cursed my rotten luck; there was no way that I was going to be able to apologize to 'Rado in fifteen minutes. Wyoming saw my expression and patted my shoulder roughly.

"Don't worry, North. Once this mission is over, I'm sure she'll be calmed down enough for you to talk to her."

"I hope so, Wyoming."

By this time the two women had finished up, with a final score of three to one, with Carolina obviously coming out on top. Both York and I went down to meet them by the training room door, and when they came out, we fell into step with them. Wyoming tugged Carolina forward a bit so that 'Rado and I were left in the back. She was strangely silent as Wyoming began telling a story about how Wash had managed to shoot his own foot during a lockdown paint practice. I looked sideways at her, but with her helmet on I couldn't see her expression.

"Come on, 'Rado… please talk to me."

She barely spared me a glance, and her reply was low enough so the others couldn't hear.

"I have nothing to say to you right now, North." In a louder voice she added, "I'll go ahead and meet you guys at the bridge. I want to see if the Director has any special objectives for Psi and I on this mission."

And off she went, barely winded from her tussle with Carolina. I sighed in defeat, and Wyoming shot me a sympathetic glance over his shoulder. It was going to be a long day without 'Rado to make it go by.

_**Colorado's POV**_

The bridge was five minutes from the training room tops, which wouldn't give the Director and I much time to talk, however my thoughts were on North the entire trip. Why did he insist on trying to talk to me? Was he going to leave me in the dust? Was he actually going to apologize like Carolina suggested? Whatever the reason, I wasn't ready to talk to him again yet. There was too much at stake for the moment to be distracted by him, and this mission was supposedly an important one. As I entered the bridge, I once again caught sight of Agent Texas. I narrowed my eyes in thought. At first she had just seemed like another agent, but this was the second time I had seen her with the Director. Both of them looked up at my entrance, and the Director dismissed Texas. As she passed me, she nodded.

"Agent Colorado."

"Agent Texas."

And that was the extent of our exchange as the Director beckoned me forward.

"Agent Colorado, how have your combat skills improved now that you have Psi as a partner?"

"Dramatically, Sir. I'm sure you already heard about the… disagreement that Agent South Dakota and I had. Psi handled my equipment excellently, and offered more combat awareness. I admit that I may have jumped to conclusions about him."

"That is good to hear. Agent Colorado, as you are our only agent with an AI currently, you will be assisting with whichever team Carolina puts you on. You will not be squad leader, but without a doubt your abilities and equipment will be a valuable asset."

"You can count on me, Director. Psi and I will not let you down."

"I am glad to hear that."

Although he probably had the expectation that we wouldn't fail anyway; his top agents were the best after all.

Silence fell after our conversation, which was broken as he went over to the front of the bridge and began fiddling with his computer. One by one the other Freelancers filed in that were going on the mission. North, Carolina, Maine, Wyoming, Wash, and myself were there, and to my surprise CT was present as well. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. I didn't trust CT as far as I could throw her. Why the Director had chosen her to go on this mission was beyond me. I took a place next to Maine and nodded a greeting, which he returned. I felt someone else staring at me, but I didn't turn to see whom it was lest it was North I saw. Carolina had walked towards the Director. A couple of seconds later, both the Director and Carolina returned to the holo emitter.

"Agents, your mission today is by far the most important you have undertaken to date. As our number one, Carolina will be leading from the field."

Carolina then stepped up to take control.

"Okay, here's what we have. As you may have heard, there is suspected insurrection activity in this area. Our intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the insurrection have acquired a high level asset, and are holding it in this secure location. It's a hundred and ten story building in the middle of an urban environment."

Wyoming seemed curious.

"What does security look like?"

Carolina looked at him, but through her helmet I couldn't tell what her expression was. Nevertheless, her tone made it clear that the answer was obvious as she said, "They have enough troops to fill a hundred and ten story building."

"Ok, that's a lot of security."

"We're up to it. Our job is to infiltrate the building, work our way up to the floor where the Sarcophagus is being held, and secure it."

North seemed confused, and his tone implied as much.

"The Sarcophagus?"

"That is what we are calling the primary objective."

"But since this is a high level asset we need to access a key code to open the Sarcophagus."

"I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side."

I rolled my eyes at Wash's stupid statement.

"No, they don't, Wash. My guess is that it's being held with a VIP, probably away from the facility to minimize the chances of the asset being compromised."

Carolina nodded in agreement.

"Colorado is right. An official of the program who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspections holds the access code. That's when we'll hit the facility. We need to acquire both targets within minutes of each other. If we fail that, the remaining target will enter lockdown and we miss our window."

"We will _not_ have another chance at this."

The Director hadn't spoken much, but his use of the word 'not' clearly accented the pressure we were under to succeed.

"So that means two teams."

"Two teams. Team A will consist of Wash, Maine, and me. We will work infiltration on the package's storage facility. York is still in the infirmary so Wash, you will have to pull lockpicking duty."

I chuckled slightly, and Wash seemed flustered at Carolina's order.

"Uhm… okay. Guess I'll reread my field manual in the transport."

I shook my head and was about to volunteer to have Psi and I join Team A instead, but the door opened and York stepped in.

"Hey, don't be so quick to give away my job."

"York?"

I couldn't help but stare in surprise. York had taken quite a hit last week, and to see him up and about already was surprising. I stepped forward.

"I thought you were in the hospital?"

York seemed highly amused by our surprise, and this impressions transferred over as he spoke up with a joking, "According to their records, I am."

I chuckled and let Carolina take a place by his side.

"How's your eye?"

"It's ok, the docs are letting me out tomorrow."

Wash was also quite skeptical.

"Tomorrow, huh?"

Typical York. Then again, no one seemed to obey the orders of the doctors on this ship.

"Look, I couldn't let you guys have all the fun without me. Besides, you need someone to get you in."

Wash turned to Carolina, his tone was wary, "Listen I'm happy to see him too, but this mission, I don't know..."

"Hey, if York says he's good, then he's good."

"It's your call, Boss."

I couldn't help but agree with Wash. York had lost his eyesight in one eye, and though I didn't doubt his excellent lock picking skills, I doubted his physical readiness for the mission. If this mission was as important as the Director made it out to be, then we needed everyone to be in top shape. However Carolina had made her decision, and I had enough respect for her to not challenge her choice.

"It's settled then. York will join Team A and get them in the facility."

"Thank you, Sir."

Eight agents, one mission, all undoubtedly bound for success. I felt my hands shaking in anticipation, and fought to keep them under control.

"Transport will be two lightly equipped Pelican dropships."

479er was a great pilot, and spoke up with a wry tone.

"We're rigged for fast running only people, no heavy armaments."

"Team B will be North, Colorado, Wyoming and C.T. You will act as recon for Team A and once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway. North will lead Team B."

I once again felt North turn his gaze to me.

"Got it."

CT voice broke into our silent contemplation, "What about Agent South?"

"Agent South will not be accompanying you on this mission."

"Hmm, I guess the world's a tough place when you move down a rank. And what about our new recruit, will she be joining us?"

"That's enough questions, Connecticut."

I narrowed my eyes in thought. The Director hadn't denied that she would be accompanying us, but he seemed reluctant to confirm her place on the mission. Texas was an enigma to me. I hadn't talked to her personally, and the only times I had gotten close to her was when she had been talking to the Director and during her debut training session. There was something about her, and I had a sneaking suspicion that she was getting special treatment for some reason. If it cost me my spot on the leader board, I would not be happy.

"Team B should be simple. Stop the vehicle, and grab the case. Team A, you have more of a challenge. Mainly, the Sarcophagus is an unknown."

"How unknown are we talking?"

Wash was surprisingly focused, considering how scatter-brained he could be sometimes, and I leaned forward intently.

"Unknown in that we don't know its size or its weight or its dimensions. We just know it will have these markings somewhere on the exterior."

The markings were strange. There was what looked like an upside-down 'Y.' and in each section of it there was a circle. The one on the bottom looked kind of like a Dia De Los Muertos skull with small dots surrounding it. The circle in the top right had what looked like a plus sign with two small dots. The final one in the top left looked like the ship from an old video game from back on Earth. Studying them, I wondered what they meant, and what relevance they had to the Sarcophagus besides it being identifying marks.

"I saw those same markings on the oil platform."

"Correct. That facility created the primary objective."

"Do we know what's inside?"

"Yes, we know."

"How do we know what's in it, but not know how big it is? ...Sorry Sir."

Though I didn't trust CT, she had asked a very good question. Clearly the Director didn't want us to know what was inside, but I supposed it was on a need-to-know basis. All that mattered was that we got it back to the ship.

"We have a job to do people. Let's do it right and come home safe."

"That is all. You are dismissed."

We all stood up a little straighter.

"Yes, Sir!"

With that, we all went to the armory and made our final preparations. Carolina went over some final orders for her team, but North silently gathered us together and got is in our Pelican. Before long, we were flying through space towards our objective, and looking out the window, I had a strange feeling that this mission would change everything.

_**Snap son, it's mission time! :D**_


	6. Chapter 6: Up in Flames

_**Oh my gosh, it's chapter six ;) I am having so much writing this story, and I'm hoping everyone reading is enjoying it too. It's mission time, ladies and gentlemen. Have you ever wondered what happened to Team B upon splitting from Team A? How did they fail their part of the mission? Here is the account from the eyes of Colorado.**_

_**Chapter 6**_

Everything was a smooth ride down to the planet's surface. This wasn't the isolated planet where Exile and Vortex were located; this was a bustling suburbia with businesses and civilians. We were going to have to be careful to avoid civilian casualties while obtaining our objective. The whole Pelican was filled with a tension; part of it was because of the mission at hand, and the rest was between North and myself. Neither of us spoke during the flight, and preoccupied ourselves with our teammates instead. While North had a conversation with CT, I turned to Wyoming and tried to ignore how North was talking to that traitor.

"Wyoming, when we get back to the _Mother of Invention_ I'd like another sniper lesson."

"Very well, my dear. Why the sudden change of heart? After your rescue you haven't bothered to ask at all."

"I just need a little extra something to do."

Wyoming shook his head, and I heard him key open a private channel to me.

"Listen, 'Rado. I already know what's going on with North and yourself, and I assure you that he hasn't felt as bad about something as what he did to you. If you two talked it out I'm sure you could patch things up and resume your little relationship."

Sighing in annoyance, I looked at North out of the corner of my eyes and was surprised to see him looking at me. Wyoming was clueless if he thought I was going to allow North off of the hook so soon. He waited for a week before attempting to apologize to me, and he didn't even seem to care how much his denial hurt. Well now it was my turn to show him how much pain it caused to not be able to trust the one you thought you loved. With this in mind, I turned my attention back to Wyoming and shrugged impassively.

"He made his feelings about me quite clear, Wyoming. If he's thinking that a week of waiting and a couple of words are going to fix things, he's wrong."

Wyoming never struck me as a serious type of person, so I was surprised at how involved he was getting with North and I.

"I can't say that I didn't try, but just understand that North is feeling just as hurt as you are."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so instead of trying to formulate a response, I tried to take a quick catnap. Mercifully, Wyoming left me alone, and I actually managed to fall asleep. However it seemed that just as I had gotten comfortable, Wyoming was shaking me awake.

"Time to wake up, 'Rado. North is just making some final checks with Carolina."

And indeed he was. After a few words with Freelancer's number one, North turned to us.

"Alright Bravo let's move out. We have three minutes until first alert, let's have our target in hand by two."

All of us nodded, and I couldn't help but wonder just how easy our job would be. We had no intel on if the VIP had any guards with him, nor did we know exactly how fast Team A would accomplish their objective. Essentially, we were running on an unknown time limit. I removed the SMGs from my thighs that I had brought and made sure they were loaded. The sharp click of a fresh clip calmed me down a bit, and I did a quick inventory of my other gear. I had opted to bring a Battle Rifle this time instead of a pistol, and, as always, I had brought biofoam and bandages since someone always seemed to need them. There were also four spare clips for both my SMGs and my Battle Rifle. CT had brought an Assault Rifle, but she was at her most dangerous in CQC when she could use her knives. North had a sniper slung over his back, and it seemed like Wyoming had decided to bring a DMR since North was already on sniper duty.

In all we were pretty diverse with our weapon choices, and I was confident that we'd be pulling off a quick and easy mission. Our Pelican began to descend towards the highway, and I could imagine that our Warthog would be dropped soon. Pursuing our VIP in a Pelican was far too conspicuous, and though the Warthog had comfortable seating for three, it could hold four people with uncomfortable seating. Sighing, I strapped the SMGs back to my thighs, slung my Battle Rifle into my hands, and prepared to drop out of the ship. North's voice came over my comm.

"Ok Bravo, let's move out and get our VIP!"

At his order, we leapt the twenty feet down to the ground and boarded the Warthog. Wyoming was gunner, North was driving, and CT and I ended up squished together in the passenger seat. Both of us were tense, and I had no doubts that Wyoming and North were feeling the same way. The air only seemed to grow thicker as our objective came into sight; it was definitely a new model of a fancy sports car, and I wondered why people as important as this guy weren't more inconspicuous.

"Wyoming! As soon as you get a shot, blow out his tires!"

"I'll flatten him in no time, North."

Had the situation not been so important, I probably would have punched Wyoming for such a stupid joke. However as North gunned the motor, I felt a sense of calm sweep over me. All we had to do was grab the case and go, no problem. Wyoming spun the turret up as we got within range, and a fantastic screeching sound began as Wyoming ripped the car wheels to shreds. At once the car began to slow. North slammed on the brakes, and our Warthog came screeching to a stop. He whipped out his sniper and motioned to CT and I.

"Get the brief case, ladies. Wyoming and I will cover you."

I nodded an affirmation and got out of the Warthog, my Battle Rifle aimed at the driver's side of the car. CT had drawn her Assault Rifle, and together we stepped towards the vehicle. I hailed Psi as we made it to the rear of the VIPs car.

"Are you getting life signs, Psi?"

Psi appeared, and his tone was confused as he said, "Negative. There is no one in the vehicle, 'Rado."

Wariness crept over me, and I cautiously opened the door to the driver's side. I drew in a sharp intake of breath and yelled out to CT.

"Get away from the vehicle! It's ri-"

I didn't get to finish. The car exploded into a glowing fireball, and the force sent me flying backwards into a light pole. A loud ringing was all I could hear, and it hurt to breathe. I groggily got my arms beneath me and raised myself off of the ground slightly. I couldn't see CT anywhere, but I did see the shell of a burning car, and Wyoming running to the other side of the street. I figured that CT was over there, and I struggled to my feet. There was a large crack in my visor, and I shakily removed my helmet.

"Psi… are you ok?"

Despite my displeasure about Psi trying to deal with my problems, he was my AI, and I needed to protect him. Thankfully, he seemed ok.

"_I'm fine, 'Rado. However I'm picking up at least two bruised or broken ribs, in addition to your current disorientation."_

I sighed in relief and turned to make my way back to the Warthog. However, North was already sprinting over to me. He grabbed my helmet and looped his arm behind my back, taking some of my weight as we hobbled back to the car. I didn't bother protesting; it was going to hurt like a bitch to walk back alone, and I felt less vulnerable with him by my side. He allowed me to sink down on the passenger side, and CT and Wyoming soon joined us. CT seemed none the worse for wear. She hadn't been as close as I had to the explosion. Still, she decided to pull medic and waved a hand in front of my face.

"Colorado, how many fingers am I holding up?"

I scoffed slightly at how ridiculous the question was.

"Two. We don't have time for an examination, CT. We need to catch our target."

I stood up and climbed carefully back into the Warthog. North handed me my helmet.

"I know the visor is nearly shattered, but you need some form of protection."

His tone was all business, but I could detect a slight tremor of concern. I nodded once and put the helmet back on, relieved to see that my equipment readouts were still working. The other three Freelancers looked at each other, but nonetheless climbed back into the Warthog. Soon enough we were on the tail of an identical car thanks to directions from the _Mother of Invention_. North looked over all of us and then back to the rode.

"Ok, same plan as before. Wyoming, get ready to blow out those tires."

"You've got it."

We pulled up within range of the car and Wyoming began to spin up the gun. All of us were so intent on the car, that we missed the two motorcycles behind us until they pulled up alongside us. Horror went through me at the sight of a man in the passenger seat wielding a rocket launcher. North noticed the men too and slammed on the brakes, allowing the cycles to fly past us, but not before they let loose two rockets at our tires. I could almost feel the frantic fear of North as he screeched out an order.

"Out! Everyone out of the car!"

North leapt out of the driver's seat, and CT quickly followed suit. I jumped out of the passenger side, but Wyoming was still on the gun, frantically trying to take our target down. North turned around as I reached him and CT.

"Wyoming! Move!"

However there was no time for him to react as the rockets impacted the Warthog. Wyoming took the brunt of the explosion and was tossed back towards us, but our car became a flaming fireball. The Warthog came to rest on its side, and soon the local authorities arrived. A part of me felt relieved, but I quickly realized that they weren't here to help us. In fact the second they pulled up, they all exited their cars and pointed their weapons right at us. I had no doubts that between North, CT, and myself we could take them, but even I had qualms about taking down honest men just trying to do their job. I grabbed Wyoming and hefted him over my shoulders, just as a bullet whizzed past my helmet. My chest protested madly at the extra weight, but I tried my best to ignore it.

"What the fuck?! Why are they shooting at _us_?"

CT helped me over to the shell of our ride and put Wyoming on the ground.

"Because we're the biggest threat here."

I groaned and took out my Battle Rifle. The barrel was bent slightly, and I tossed it away, instead bring both of my SMGs out.

"Well if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they're going to get!"

I was about to shoot back, but North shoved me back down.

"Don't shoot unless it's our last option, Colorado! These guys don't know the whole situation."

I slapped his hand off of my shoulder and ripped off my helmet to glare at him.

"I don't know what the law is where you're from, but usually the police don't shoot unless we make a move to shoot at them first! Maybe you didn't notice, but they don't seem to be obeying that little rule."

It was true, too. Bullets pinged on the metal frame of the Warthog we were now using as cover, and they also flew past us. North kept his helmet on, but put another hand on my arm to stop me from bringing my weapon up.

"Look just give me a chance! If we explain that the Insurrection is involved, they might let us go!"

I barely recognized the coldness in my voice as I replied to him with, "You've had enough chances already."

I heard the double meaning I presented and went to the other side of the 'hog, grabbing a frag off of Wyoming. I placed my helmet back on my head and hailed Psi.

"Psi, I need you out here!"

"What do you need, 'Rado?"

"We're going into stealth mode now. Cloak me all the way to the cars. When we drop invisibility, I'm going to toss the frag into one of their cars and make a break for our 'hog again. When we get close enough, I want you to use my thruster pack to get me the rest of the way. Hopefully we'll be able to get back before the grenade goes off."

Footsteps sounded beside me, and I turned to see North yet again. He pushed me against the car and held me there, and my vain attempts to push him off did little but agitate my ribs.

"Let me go, North!"

"Sorry, 'Rado, but I'm in charge here. I'm not going to allow you to go out there and get yourself hurt, or worse!"

My eyes narrowed, though he couldn't see it behind my visor.

"As if _you_ care! Someone around here has to do something! If you're unwilling to bring them down, then I'll do it myself!"

"I _do_ care, 'Rado! And that's why I'm not letting you go!"

"Too bad that's not your decision."

I activated my thruster pack and pushed towards him, my fist landing across his helmeted jaw. He reeled back, and gave me just enough time to give Psi the go ahead to activate my invisibility. With a speed I didn't know I possessed, I broke cover and sprinted towards the nearest police car. From what I could tell, at least three men were taking cover behind it. Another car was almost front to bumper with it, and I hailed Psi again.

"_Psi, where can I place the grenade to cause the most damage?_"

"_The front fender. The two cars should absorb most of the impact while making loss of life minimum._"

Following Psi's guidance, I clicked the pin of the grenade and stuffed it into the front fender of the car. I leapt up from the car and ran for the Warthog.

"Psi! Thruster Pack on my mark! Mark!"

I felt myself shoot forward behind cover, and the grenade went off fantastically. Shouts of surprise and pain told me I had hit my mark, and I deactivated my invisibility.

"Nice work, Psi."

"Not too bad yourself, 'Rado."

Despite the situation, I felt a smile growing on my face. Everything else was changing in my life it seemed, but Psi was always a constant and steady presence. It was getting harder to remember a time without him. Walking over to Wyoming and CT, I stooped down.

"How is Wyoming, CT?"

"He seems stable for now, but he's out cold."

I dug into the pouch on my thigh and produced my biofoam and bandages.

"Here. If he wakes up, see if he needs these."

CT nodded and took both items from me. I turned to look around, and North had his sniper out. From his posture, he seemed to be talking to someone. As much as I didn't want to talk to him, I had to figure out our situation.

"North, what's the news?"

He turned to me, voice resolute.

"The Sarcophagus has been secured. Team A is on their way to intercept our target. A Pelican is en route to give us some back up and evac us out of here."

I nodded and turned to walk away, but he caught hold of my shoulder.

"And 'Rado? When we get back, we're going to go somewhere private and talk."

I crossed my arms, even though he sounded genuinely friendly.

"We'll see about that."

My voice was wary, but I was curious to see what he was going to say. I did not, however, want North to think he was in charge. He seemed to pick up on this, and nodded in response. That was one problem that seemed to be working itself out, but there was still the issue of the police firing at us. Sirens were wailing, and I could only imagine that the two cars I had blown up were still on fire. I had no clue how many guys I had incapacitated, and honestly, I didn't care. Once the Pelican showed up I was certain we'd get out of here without a hitch. Then again, I was also certain that we'd be able to pull off this mission without a hitch too.

North had managed to get off a couple of shots, obviously deciding that talking wasn't going to do us any good. As I watched, he unhooked a couple of grenades from his belt and, after a moment of hesitation, handed one to me.

"I hate to give you more encouragement, but here."

I rolled my eyes, but there was a small amount of amusement I couldn't help but feel.

"I'll be back in a bit. Psi?"

"Yes, 'Rado?"

"It's time to disappear."

"Right, I'm on it."

Within seconds I had faded from view, and proceeded to charge towards the cars yet again. There were three cars left, but really I only wanted to take out the one on the outskirts. North was more than capable of taking out the other two cars with his frag. I clicked down the pin and observed where best to place the grenade.

"_Five seconds, 'Rado!_"

A second of hesitation more and I stuffed the grenade above one of the tires.

"_'Rado…_"

"_I know, I know!_"

Scrambling away from the car, I dove for the Warthog, and felt the blast propel me forward behind the car. The impact on the ground was jarring, and I painfully got to my feet. Bullets started hitting the ground around me, and a couple came dangerously close to hitting my shoulders.

"'Rado, move to cover! The invisibility unit has been damaged!"

At Psi's warning, I frantically leapt up and rolled behind cover, nearly flying right into North. My chest was again screaming profanities at me for landing so hard, and I turned to North.

"Any idea when that back up is going to be arriving, North?"

"Right about… now?"

The loud sound of a Pelican's engines drowned out North's reply, and I looked up to see the hulking frame of our ride. For a moment the firing stopped, only to resume with renewed ferocity. Part of me wondered why they bothered shooting such a well-defended vehicle, but my skepticism cut out as the ramp lowered. CT began to half carry half drag Wyoming onto the ship, and I rushed to assist. North tossed his last frag at our opposition, and we were rewarded by a quick cease-fire as they scrambled to avoid it. All of us piled onto the Pelican, and the pilot looked back to us.

"Hang on! We've got a couple stops on the way back home."

The engines roared again and the back hatch closed, and soon we were speeding off. CT had secured Wyoming in a seat, and in our haste, North and I had managed to end up sitting next to each other. I looked over awkwardly, and realized woefully that mu HUD was no longer working properly. That last grenade had been the end of my helmets functionality it seemed. Sighing, I removed my helmet and set it on my lap, shaking my hair out. North looked at me and removed his own helmet. As usual, his eyes always seemed to draw me in. I looked at him warily, which was a stark difference to his steady gaze.

"Listen, 'Rado… about last week…."

I looked around the cabin.

"Look North, I'm not exactly comfortable having an audience while we talk. Can't it wait until we get back?"

For a second he looked away, and I thought he would agree, but he turned sharply back to me, and I was surprised by the hardened determination I saw there.

"No, it can't wait. Besides, now you can't avoid me since we're on the Pelican."

I glared at him, not at all amused.

"Let's at least have this conversation in a private communication channel!"

North raised his hands amiably.

"Hey, I'm not gong to broadcast our little heart to heart to the whole crew. Don't get worried about that."

Unfortunately for me, it didn't take very long to set up the "chat" so-to-speak. I felt my nerves causing my hands to shake slightly, which only worsened as I replaced my helmet back on my head. Almost immediately, North's voice flooded my helmet, and I made it a point to stare at my boots.

"'Rado… there's really nothing I can say to apologize the way you deserve, but I'm just going to keep it short and sweet. I'm sorry. You trusted me to handle the truth about you and I just threw that trust back in your face and left."

I couldn't help but feel perplexed at the phrase "the truth about you." Had I been lying or something? Everything I had told him was true, yes, but by no means was I going to great lengths to hide it, nor was I lying about it. If there was one thing I had learned in my years of service, it was that your past never stays hidden for long. Eventually someone was going to find out, whether you told them or not. Judging from North's silence, he was waiting for an answer from me. For a moment I allowed the silence to linger, savoring the serenity it masqueraded in the tense atmosphere of the Pelican.

"I don't understand why you were so shocked, North. Why that drove you away so far so fast. I'm not an angel, North. I've done bad things to people, and though I'm not proud of most of it, I've accepted past events for what they are. Everything I've done has made me who I am today," my voice grew hard as I continued, "and you better start accepting that, because nothing I do can or will change the past."

The only downside of having helmets on for this conversation was not being able to read his expressions. North's posture didn't change, and I could only assume that he was contemplating what I had said. After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke up.

"I never wanted you to try changing the past. However the things you did… well, they shocked me. Unarmed men and women? Children even? It just all seemed so… barbaric. I thought I knew you, 'Rado, and then you dropped all of that on me. I was trying to distinguish between the Agent Colorado I know, and the other version. I couldn't find a difference, and that terrified me."

"Are you blaming me for your departure, North?"

"No!"

"Well it sure sounds like it," I muttered tartly.

He sighed, and I detected the frustration in it. Despite my unhappiness with him, I felt myself soften. North really was trying to apologize, and here I was pushing him away as he had done to me. We were both assholes. Sighing myself, I reached over and placed a hand on his leg. North seemed surprised by the gesture and looked at me squarely. Neither of us even turned as the Pelican lowered and York stepped on.

"Listen, North, I understand that you're sorry, it's just hard for me to grasp that you would break your promise to me that… easily. I just thought that… well; I thought you loved me enough not to be so affected. When you left you have no idea how much you crushed me. In fact you crushed me in ways I never thought possible."

I broke our would-be eye contact, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. I hated talking about emotions so much. Admitting them was such a weakness, and it was an easily exploited one. I still wasn't comfortable with CT, and I could only imagine what she was garnering from our body language and actions. I did take solace in the fact that she couldn't hear neither North nor myself though. I felt a hand under my chin, and reluctantly turned, knowing that it was North. Once again we stared at each other, though neither of us could see the others' face. I longed to know what North was thinking, but silence reigned between us. In an instant all of that changed when North ripped off both my helmet and his helmet and planted a kiss firmly on my lips. Well, about as firmly as seat restraints allowed. For a moment I was shocked and tense, but I felt myself react to this touch almost instantly and sank into the kiss. Being without North's banter or touch- hell, his PRESENCE- for a week had made me realize just how much I had to lose with him.

Both of us pulled back, and just stared in each other's eyes, his blue, and my green.

"'Rado, I'm so sorry. Forgive me?"

"I forgive you, North, but I wont forget it. If you pull something like that again, I will kick your ass."

He gave me a small smile and a quick peck on the check before taking my hand and caressing it. York chuckled and shook his head, but snapped to attention as we descended again. The back hatch opened, and there Carolina stood, helmet off, and side clutched painfully. I felt my eyes widen at her appearance, and noticed with alarm that she was without a brief case. She made her way onto the ship, and didn't even react to North and I as she sat down heavily next to York.

With great hesitation, I asked, "Where is the case?"

She glared at me, though I couldn't tell if she was truly angry with me.

"Agent Texas has it."

She slammed her helmet back on her head, and did a double take on North and I before nodding slowly.

"At least _something_ went right on this damned mission."

_**And so we wrap up chapter 6! To be honest I'm not too impressed by it ._. it feels choppy to me. However I'll allow you all to be the judge of that :) Thank you for the review last chapter, Lyric! I am so glad you enjoyed it :D I updated a little early because I'm going to be super busy tomorrow.**_


	7. Chapter 7: Truth and Dare

_**Another week, another chapter :D The aftermath of Team A and B's mission is at hand! I personally really enjoyed writing this chapter. I was just waiting for a brilliant bolt of inspiration to hit me for 'Rado and Tex's first true interaction. Lyric, that's exactly where I got the title! DA2 is my favorite DA game, personally xD #addicted**_

_**Chapter 7**_

The _Mother of Invention_ was eerily silent for the week and a half after we returned. The Director had debriefed all of the present Freelancers, and sent us on our way to rest and recuperate. Well, at least after he updated the board. To my immense fury, all of my friends had been knocked down a rank, and all to make room for one Agent Texas as Freelancer's new number one. Carolina was furious, though she didn't voice it. The board now had Texas, Carolina, and York in the top three. Maine was number four, Wash was number five, and North was number six now. South, I could tell, was completely cloaked in anger. Surprisingly, a lot of it seemed to be directed at North. Before storming out of the debriefing, she had shot him a look of such utter hatred that I was surprised North didn't feel it burning his back. I supposed I would be mad too if I was thrown in eighth place instead of an injured agent.

The mission had caused the injuries of three Freelancers, including myself. Wyoming and I had been seen to quickly and were sent on our way just as fast. Maine, however, had ended up the worst of everyone. Apparently while chasing down our target, Innie agents had interfered. One of them pinned Maine down on the back of a truck and shot his throat. According to the doctors, he would never be able to speak again. The news that an Innie had caused Maine to have such a handicap had infuriated me. Instead of resting my ribs like the doctors had recommended, I decided to go to the firing range to try and revive my rusted sniper skills. The crack of the rifle took me back to my mission in Exile where Arizona had sniped me. I had a better handle on the rifle than he had, but the gun was so powerful that even a novice could cause serious damage. I let off another shot and threw the now empty clip away and replaced it with a new one. However I had Psi bring the target forward so I could analyze my accuracy. One shot had hit in the general vicinity of the heart, but the other three had either gone too wide, or I had done an improper job of accounting for bullet drop. I cursed and refreshed the target, and Psi popped up on the rifle rest.

"Are you positive that you don't want my assistance, 'Rado? I can guarantee at least a twenty percent improvement on your aim."

I sighed and shot once before replying.

"I know, Psi, and I appreciate the offer, but if I someday am forced to take up a sniper without you, I need my skills to be just as sharp as they would be with you. I'd ask Wyoming for a lesson, but he's resting up. He's lucky he managed to escape the blast with only a few bruises."

"What about Agent North Dakota? From my understanding he is also quite gifted with a sniper rifle."

I felt the grip on the sniper loosen. Why hadn't I thought of that? North was nearly as good as Wyoming was, and I wouldn't mind his company now that he had apologized.

"You didn't think of that because it hasn't sunk in that he apologized. Would you like me to comm him?"

I rolled my eyes at Psi's amused tone before shaking my head.

"No, I'll call him."

Psi murmured an affirmative and shut down, only to reappear a couple of seconds later.

"If I may make an observation, 'Rado, I've noticed that in the past two hundred and forty hours since returning from the mission, you seem much happier despite the... upset… that Agent Texas created."

I smirked, and turned to face him.

"As long as I've got you and North, nothing can really go wrong, Psi."

Psi gave a knowing scoff, but allowed mock shock to enter his tone as replied, "why, 'Rado, did you just compliment me? I can die a happy AI now."

Amused, I allowed myself to shoot another round.

"Well don't get used to it; I'm soft enough already because of you and North."

Psi chuckled.

"Well you don't seem to mind that much."

Psi logged off after that and I hailed North. He promised he'd be down in a bit to help me out, and I felt my mood increase dramatically. With all of this bullshit with the Insurrection and the waves that Agent Texas' new rank was creating, I was looking forward to just spending time with my boyfriend. Despite all of the craziness around here, North was like a rock keeping me from being swept away. When he did show up though, it was clear that something was wrong. His normally bright eyes were troubled, and a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. Seeing this made me frown in concern, and I left my rifle where it was to go and hug him. His warm arms wrapped around me to draw me closer, and I looked up.

"Hey North, what's wrong?"

He sighed and looked me over.

"South. I don't know how to get through to her. I invited her to hang out with us and she practically bit my head off. She's been in a bad mood ever since the Director updated the board. I can't even begin to describe how much she hates Tex."

North looked truly downcast about his sister's behavior, and I smiled reassuringly.

"Hey, I'm sure South will come around. You know how she is. First she just had Carolina to really contend with, and now she has both Carolina AND Texas. Although I don't exactly know what Texas did to earn Carolina's spot on the leader board."

I had puzzled for the past couple of days about Texas' position. Her performance must have been flawless, besides the fact that she was the one who returned with the brief case. Carolina had been oddly quiet about the Director's motives, contenting herself instead with spending all of her free time training. York had mentioned his concern for her yesterday while we were hanging out in the lounge. I still felt compelled to hook the two up, but after sharing my theory with North, he had advised me to let York and Carolina figure their "relationship" out themselves.

North looked at me, his tone and face contemplative.

"Well there's something about Tex that the Director finds impressive. I'm sure he had his reasons for putting her on top. Although, York and I were wondering yesterday why the police were shooting at us. Can you feel it, 'Rado? I feel like our last mission was just the beginning of bigger changes besides the board."

For a moment, I just stared at him, confused. It had been weird having local police shoot at us. I thought they were working with the Insurrection, but after the Director had informed us of the "unfortunate involvement of local forces" I was beginning to have my doubts. I shook my head and lay my head on North's chest.

"I'm sure that was just a misunderstanding. The only changes we'll see are the progress against the Insurrection that our missions accomplish."

I was confident that Project Freelancer was bettering the human race by getting rid of its enemies. Whatever we had acquired during our last mission was bound to help us all in one way or another. Looking at North, I could tell that he didn't necessarily agree, but he said nothing, deciding instead planting a kiss on my forehead before leading me over to the range.

"Well let's not get ourselves in a bad mood over the future. You wanted a lesson with a sniper?"

I nodded and picked the rifle up, aiming at the target. North's hands were on my shoulder.

"Ok first off, you've got too much tension in your shoulders; it's like your expecting a massive kick. Loosen yourself up just a bit."

I took a deep breath and obliged, slacking my bracing position until North seemed satisfied. When he made no other comment on my position, I let off a shot that landed right on the sternum.

"You're pulling your gun up and left just a hair when you fire. Don't move the barrel until you see the bullet hit your target. Try again."

I nodded and again took aim. Firing, I tried my hardest not to let my hands move the barrel, and was rewarded by a dead center hit. I smiled and turned to North, happy to see pride in his eyes as he met my gaze.

"Nice shot, Ace. We may make a markswoman out of you yet."

I snorted in amusement and ejected the spent clip before magnetizing the rifle to my back.

"Unlikely; I'm much more lethal in close quarters. It never hurts to be decent with a rifle though. Who knows if I'll ever need to cover anyone with it."

"True enough. Oh, hey, I've got a plan to get Kansas and Wash together."

I chuckled, an amused smirk on my face.

"What happened to letting people figure out their relationships on their own?"

"Well, Wash and Kansas aren't as likely to beat the shit out of me for trying, unlike a certain sea-foam soldier we know."

That earned him an outright laugh, and I grabbed hold of his hand as I left for the armory.

"So what's the brilliant plan of yours, North?"

His eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"A double date of course. I've already arranged for a nice dinner tonight for the four of us. Only trick is getting Wash and Kansas there. I was thinking we could both talk to one of them and invite them with us as a thank you for last week's intervention."

I nodded along, aware of what both Kansas and Wash had said to North. I had to thank Wyoming for his insistence too one of these days.

"Seems good. I could go find Kansas and you could go find Wash."

"That was my plan."

I smiled and walked into the armory, replacing my sniper on its normal stand before turning to North.

"Ok, so let's go hunting then! Comm me if you see Kansas, ok?"

"Of course, 'Rado. And you be sure to send Wash my way if you see him."

I grinned wickedly.

"Of course I will. Project Freelancer's first ever double date. This is going to be hilarious to see."

North laughed and rolled his eyes before exiting the armory and heading towards the training room. I myself headed for the gym, figuring that at least one of them would be working out. To my credit, Wash was the first one I saw, and quickly I located Kansas running on a treadmill. To my surprise, Agent Texas was also present, and seemed to be sparring with York in the boxing ring. Though she continually knocked him flat on his ass, he took it good naturedly from what I could tell. I narrowed my eyes at her, still wondering how she had climbed the ranks so fast. When I had first arrived, it had taken weeks to crawl 5 places up, let alone from the bottom all the way to the top. However I pushed my suspicions to the back of my mind and strode towards Wash, who was chatting with Kansas as he went through some pull-ups.

"Hey, Wash, North was looking for you. He was heading for the training room last I saw."

Wash looked curious, and just a bit distracted. No doubt thanks to his talk with Kansas in my opinion.

"Alright, I'll see if I can find him then. See you later, 'Rado."

I nodded and decided to do a little working out of my own while I talked to Kansas. My arms would probably give out before hitting my goal of fifteen reps of ten, but there was no point in having a goal if you expected success all of the time. Kansas had looked over at me and slowed the treadmill, before trying to start a conversation with me.

"So, how are you and North Dakota, Colorado?"

I smirked slightly, and adjusted my position on the bar so I could face her.

"Well enough, Kansas. We made up a few days ago. I heard that you're partially to thank for his apology."

North had described with surprising accuracy what Kansas had said to him. After he had finished I had almost broke down in laughter thinking of North being cowed by one of the newest agents on the ship. Kansas, however, bowed her head slightly, and I figured she was attempting to be modest. Needless to say, modesty was a foreign feeling to possess in such a competitive program.

"I only gave him advice, Colorado; he chose to act on it. No thanks necessary."

I scoffed, and the movement nearly caused me to drop from my position.

"Whatever. We both know that you're downplaying you're involvement. And you can call me 'Rado, Kansas. Oh, and North prefers to go by… well, North."

I chuckled a bit, feeling that happy mood seize me once again.

"Anyways, Kansas, North and I would like to invite you to dinner with us. As a thank you for what you did, you know? We managed to pull some strings with the cooks in the mess hall, and we're going to be treated to a fantastic buffet-like meal."

At this she slowed the treadmill to a walking pace, and then stopped in altogether. I also stopped my pull-ups (only eleven reps; damn.) and dropped to the floor to remove my helmet. Kansas seemed slightly surprised by my offer, which I found interesting. Granted, out-of-left-field kindness was severely lacking on the_ Mother of Invention_, but surely she had experienced some level of special treatment elsewhere.

"Are-are you sure? Honestly, I don't want to be a bother."

Her face was flushed from, what? Embarrassment? Anxiety? I couldn't tell, but her behavior just kept puzzling me. So I offered her a reassuring smile.

"You're not a bother, Kansas, and we want you to come."

She gave me a tentative smile back.

"Ok, if you're sure. Any specific time?"

"I'll drop by your room to get you when I head off."

She nodded and left, thanking me again for the offer. York by now had had enough of getting his ass beat, and, as he went to leave the room, couldn't resist a catcall over to me.

"You're in a remarkably good mood, 'Rado. Anything happen with North that we can attribute your happiness to?"

His eyes were giving off that classic mischievous sparkle, and I rolled my eyes good-naturedly.

"Is that a little _jealously_ I detect, York?"

"Nope, just wondering if North enjoyed having revenge taken upon him."

I groaned in dismay, and replied in an apprehensive tone, "Oh good god, I don't even want to _know_ where you came up with that line."

He waved a farewell and left, leaving me alone in the gym with Texas. She seemed preoccupied with lifting weights, and I made a move to leave her with the privacy of the gym, but her voice cut through the still air.

"So, you and North, huh?"

I took a deep breath and turned around. None of the other agents (besides Carolina and South) seemed to have a problem with her. I didn't know WHAT to think, and that alone made me uneasy. Texas was too mysterious for my liking, and far too close to the Director. Even the dumbest agent could tell that there was some greater meaning between those two, but it wasn't my place to question it. All I cared about was North, and proving my worth in the project.

"Yes. Since four months ago."

For a moment she seemed to scrutinize me before looking away. I thought she was done, but in the silence the tension only seemed to grow.

"Nothing good can come of it, Colorado. Someone out there is going to use North to get to the project through you."

I immediately felt myself bristling, my cheerful mood from earlier quickly evaporating. She must think herself pretty important to think she could pass judgment on MY relationship. A deeper part of me realized that her warning had merit, but I refused to acknowledge the point.

"And what," I began, my voice cold, "do you think gives you the right to judge my relationship?"

Infuriatingly, she continued with the weights as if we were having an amiable discussion.

"I read the reports on the Vortex mission, Colorado. _Both_ of the Vortex missions. You were lucky that General Gray stayed true to his end of the bargain. You were lucky that Arizona was sloppy. Your luck is going to run out soon enough, and it's going to be North or Project Freelancer that's going to pay the price."

I felt my temper starting to rise even more. I hated being talked to as if I was a child. I _especially_ hated being talked to like a child when the person was right. However my own pride and fear kept me from admitting that Texas was right.

"I'm never going to have to choose, _Texas_, and let me tell you this right now: don't EVER try and tell me what to do. You have not done anything to earn my trust or respect yet, and this conversation is making it so much harder for that to ever happen."

With this she finally stopped lifting and got up, walking over to look down at me. Though Texas herself appeared to be only five foot five at the most, her sheer presence made her seemed taller, and I couldn't help but feel intimidated as she looked down at me.

"I'm not here to earn your respect, Colorado. However you're definitely not anywhere close to earning mine."

With that final slap, she pushed past me roughly and made her way out of the gym. I stood still for a moment, the anger permeating my being. For such a short time in the project, Texas had managed to piss off three of the most powerful women in the project. Using all of my strength, I slammed an armor-clad fist into the wall, leaving a slight dent. I went to stalk out of the gym and nearly ran right into Carolina, who was just coming from the locker room if I had to guess. Her tense posture could only mean that, once again, the sight of the board had spurred her into pushing herself even harder to reclaim her position. I stepped to the side to let her in, and the door closed behind her. She barely glanced at me, but she threw a second glance at me as she realized that something was off.

"'Rado? Got a problem?"

I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. She wears black armor and just left."

Carolina visibly tightened her already tense posture.

"Gotten acquainted with our new _number one_ I assume."

The disdain with which she brought up the rankings was pretty incredible, even for her. Blinking, I leaned against the wall.

"Oh yes, and we had quite a chat about my relationship with North. _Apparently_ our actions in Vortex and all variables were just luck. And according to _her_ my luck is going to run out soon. Bitch."

Carolina motioned me over to the ring, and I inwardly groaned. Dinner was going to be in five hours, and I _really _didn't want to show up bruised. At the same time I really needed something to take my aggression out on, and a good old fist fight sounded extremely appealing to me. Shaking off my apprehension, I shed my armor and stowed it, with Carolina rapidly following suit. If York was here we'd probably have to put up with some inane comments, but thankfully he hadn't seen fit to shadow Carolina today. As we took our positions, Carolina broke the silence.

"So what do you think of the rankings?"

I was surprised that she had brought the topic up since she seemed to be so sensitive to it.

"I think we all got screwed. _We _work _our_ asses off for weeks, and Texas just comes in and gets the top spot handed to her on a silver platter. What the fuck is that all about? I don't like it, Carolina. Each time I've seen her she's with the Director."

Interestingly, Carolina didn't look so surprised, but she did give a satisfied nod at my assessment before changing the subject abruptly.

"Wyoming is due for implantation today. He's just been taken in for preparation."

Now this was news. I knew Wyoming was due to have an implantation, but I hadn't realized that he was getting an AI so soon. As we began to throw a few punches and jabs, I tried continuing the conversation.

"So he should be up and about sometime tonight? Who's his AI?"

Psi in particular seemed interested now, though he had been strangely docile during my confrontation with Texas. Carolina seemed perfectly able to balance fighting and talking.

"Gamma. I don't know anything else though; I'm pretty sure that's all Wyoming knows as well. York is due for implantation next."

"Really? He hasn't said anything about it."

"You know York, 'Rado. He wants to surprise who he can."

There was a slight fondness in her voice as she spoke of him, and once again I wondered how neither of them had initiated a relationship with the other. Snorting in amusement, I lunged forward and swiped a leg out from under her while she seemed distracted. After a bit of rolling around trying to pin her, she finally gained the upper hand and slammed my shoulders to the ground.

"Nice try, 'Rado."

"Yeah, yeah… I'll get you next time."

"Doubtful."

She let me off of the mat and we brushed ourselves off.

"I'd stick around for another match, but I've got to get ready for dinner."

Carolina smirked, and said knowingly, "date night?"

I smiled back.

"Double date night actually. At least if Wash agreed to come. Kansas already did."

At this, Carolina raised an eyebrow.

"Careful, 'Rado. If we start matchmaking Freelancers, someone is bound to get in trouble sooner or later. Don't forget about General Gray."

My improving mood quickly started to deteriorate. I may not trust or respect Texas, but if Carolina told me to be cautious, I'd take her advice into consideration. I owed her that much at least, even if I didn't follow her advice.

"One of these days we'll track Gray down and take him out of the picture. No more problem after that."

Carolina narrowed her eyes.

"When we do find him, I'm going to make sure to be on the mission to take him down."

"You and me both. See you, Carolina."

She nodded and went to the weight station, leaving me alone to walk back to my room. In the tranquility of my room, I quickly forgot about my bad mood. Somehow, North had managed to get a bottle of wine and had left it on my dresser. The note attached read '_save it for dinner.'_ Smiling, I ditched my under armor and dressed in some clean Freelancer sweats and a t-shirt. I would have preferred to dress up, but the days of looking pretty and deciding which dress to wear were long gone. Dinner tonight was the only luxury I'd be able to enjoy for a long time. A knock at my door sounded as I was combing out the frizz in my hair. I looked at the door curiously. It couldn't be North, as we had already decided that he'd meet me in the mess hall later. It could be Kansas or Wash though.

"_Psi?_"

"_You want to know who it is?_"

"_Can you tell?_"

He tried to sound offended by my questioning, but only managed to give me a wry, but amused, tone.

"_I'm a little more than a calculator you know._ _It's… em… Oregon._"

Psi immediately followed up to try and comfort me as he felt both my temper and anxiety spike.

"_Relax; I'll contact Carolina and North just in case something happens. Just let him in._"

I sighed reluctantly, but I trusted Psi as much as I trusted North.

"Come in!"

I was secretly hoping that Psi was wrong and that Oregon wouldn't enter my room, but sure enough his green and gold armor came into view. I all of a sudden felt more vulnerable in just my t-shirt and sweats, and hoped Oregon didn't try anything. I crossed my arms and leaned against my back wall, tension clear in every muscle on my body. Oregon shut the door and turned to me before removing his helmet and handing it to me.

"I have a call for you, Colorado."

I started forward in surprise, but quickly regained my composure.

"From who, Oregon?"

He snorted in disdain and rolled his eyes.

"Who do you think? General Gray himself has asked for a word."

I narrowed my eyes, and felt Psi's surprise at Oregon's blatant, traitorous admission.

"_Would you like me to alert North and Carolina to come in now?_"

"_No. Gray wants something, and I'm going to find out what it is. THEN you can bring in North and Carolina._"

Psi was understandably hesitant, but refrained from calling in back up. Taking Oregon's helmet, I drew it over my head.

"What do you want, Gray?"

"Nice to hear from you again, Agent Colorado. And how is Agent North Dakota doing?"

"Cut the shit. You had a reason for exposing Oregon to me for a phone call; what do you want?"

"As if you didn't already know that he was a traitor," he said in a disgusted tone of voice, "Oregon and Connecticut KNEW you were listening in on them during their conversation in the gym. That's the only reason they never acted on their plan. However you didn't turn them in. I know you're curious about _our_ plans, Colorado. And I know you want to know more about your project. I have some of that information, and from what I understand your Director may be doing some illegal activities as well… if you help uncover what he's doing, I swear I won't harm anyone close to you."

Psi and I were the only ones aware of the growing disgust on my face.

"You really think I'd trust YOU over a member of the UNSC? You must be going senile if you think I'd actually work with you. Unlike the Insurrection, Project Freelancer is actually trying to HELP humanity. And when I find you, I'm going to make sure you don't do anything to hinder Project Freelancer again."

General Gray sighed as if some great tragedy had occurred.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that, Colorado. And even sorrier for Oregon having to keep his cover."

I had already figured that Gray would want to keep his spy under wraps and had requested that Psi radio North and Carolina for back up. Hopefully both of them would get the message, but if they didn't then I was on my own. Ripping off Oregon's helmet, I ducked just in time to avoid his fist colliding with the side of my head. In retaliation, I launched my own fist towards his jaw, and was rewarded by the sharp impact that sent him reeling back into the wall. For good measure I chucked his helmet at him and yanked my door open before fleeing down the corridor. My armor was in my locker in my room, but obviously there was no time to get it. My best bet was to stop the first trusted Freelancer I found and get them to bring Oregon down before he could catch up to me. The slam of a door behind me and the sound of rapid footsteps indicated to me that he decided to pursue.

"FILSS!"

"Hello Agent Colorado, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to secure all of the hangers and send the closest Freelancer on the leader board to my location, as soon as you can!"

"FILSS, ignore that order!"

"Very well, Agent Oregon, I will leave you and Agent Colorado to your activities."

"What!? No! Damn it! Psi, who's the closest Freelancer to me?"

"Agent Maine is in the gym with Agent Carolina."

"That's the opposite direction and TOWARDS Oregon!"

"You said 'closest,' not 'safest.'"

I sighed in frustration and pivoted around. Oregon was about twenty feet away from closing in on me, not bothering to try and disguise the combat knife in his right hand. Narrowing my eyes in concentration, Psi hailed me nervously.

"I hope you know what you're doing, 'Rado… do you need my help to calculate anything?"

"Not right now, Psi. I've got this under control."

A second later, when he had gone from twenty to ten feet away, I charged him and dove beneath his legs, sliding out through the other side. At times, it really was advantageous to be short, especially when your opponent was approaching six foot two. Immediately I leapt to my feet and charged down the hallway. I felt the wind whistle by me and saw his knife bounce off of the wall. _Did he retain even a BIT of his training?_ I snatched it up as I ran by, thankful that Oregon had been dumb enough to give me a weapon. The gym was a run through personnel and other pathways. I tried to keep the knife away from others, and as the gym came into view, I heard people protesting behind me as Oregon pushed his way through. Flinging the gym door open, Carolina and Maine were indeed inside, both silently going about their business, however they both looked up curiously at me, and grew slightly alarmed when they caught sight of the knife in my hand.

"'Rado, what's wrong?"

I didn't answer until I was safely away from the door. The gym didn't come equipped with weapons, but I could still find some improvised weapons besides Oregon's knife. Maine was close to me, and he gurgled in that guttural way of his since his accident on the bridge. He grabbed my arm and turned it slightly. Blood had pooled along a thin line that stretched from my wrist to my elbow. Carolina was immediately alert.

"'Rado, what happened?!"

The door opened and Oregon stepped in, clearly not expecting to see Maine or Carolina. Luckily, both of the aforementioned Freelancers had their armor on, and I could almost see Oregon's complexion pale. Oregon had been confident enough when it was just an unarmored target, but now that he was facing down two of the most dangerous agents in the program, he didn't seem so full of bravado. Carolina was the first to guess what was wrong, and I saw her eyes narrow dangerously before she charged forward. Against Carolina, Oregon was an incredibly sloppy fighter. Each mistake he made just allowed Carolina to get in a hard hit or a well-placed kick. Soon, Oregon was on the ground groaning in pain.

"FILSS, please notify Agents North Dakota, South Dakota, and New York that their presence is required in the gym."

"Right away, Agent Carolina."

Carolina turned towards Maine and motioned for him to keep an eye on Oregon and she came over to me.

"Ok, 'Rado, what happened?"

"Oregon came to pay me a visit. I just had a chat with General Gray. Dumb ass tried to convince me to work with the Insurrection, so when I refused Oregon was ordered to eliminate me. Obviously he's a pretty shitty hit man."

"That cut looks pretty bad."

"Are you kidding me? This is nothing. I can't even feel it. Compared to getting shot, this cut was like a tickle at most."

Carolina sighed in annoyance.

"We'll get a medical team to look you over. For now, just sit tight."

The gym door again opened, and the Dakota twins stepped in, followed closely by York. When they all saw Oregon, North grew alarmed, while York and South seemed genuinely surprised at his unconscious state. I had forgotten that only North and Carolina knew about my suspicions. North walked over and I heard his sharp intake of breath as he saw my arm. Needless to say, this was going to be quite the story.

_**Quite a fun chapter to write if I do say so myself :D As always, the next chapter will be up in a week!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Dinner for Four

_**Chapter 8 already? It's a fun time writing this story :D Season ten chapters will come in a little while. For now I'm going to go into finalizing the General Gray plotline, and use that as a springboard into the season ten chapters. Enjoy the show!**_

_**Chapter 8**_

After the incident in the gym, North and Carolina escorted me to the medical bay to get my cut seen to. After a quick session of what I considered biofoam therapy and modern medicine, the wound was as good as new. I just needed to keep it bandaged to keep it from opening up. Almost immediately after that, FILSS informed us that the Director wanted to see us on the bridge, and I felt both apprehension and excitement seize me. What would he do with Oregon? Would he blame us for lacking vigilance? Did he know of our previous suspicions? Whatever questions I had, there were no answers to be found. Hopefully the Director would be able to offer some insight, and give me the go ahead to hunt Gray down. Maine, South, and York had taken Oregon to the interrogation area. I longed to be with them to obtain information from him, but Carolina and North had both agreed that putting me in the same space with Oregon was a bad idea. I honestly couldn't tell if they were more worried about my physical safety, or Oregon's.

Thoughts of physical violence towards the traitorous Freelancer only intensified as we entered the bridge. The Director was talking to York.

"Agent York, from what you have gathered, can we discern General Gray's location?"

York sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry Sir, but Oregon isn't budging. We might know more if you gave South the go ahead to implore more… physical forms of persuasion."

The Director clasped his hands behind his back, an obvious sign of contemplation.

"Only resort to "physical persuasion" if there is no other way to get the necessary information."

"Your call, Sir."

The Director cut the connection and turned to us, an unhappy frown on his face. Clearly this latest episode with Oregon was agitating him, and I saw the perfect opportunity to move up some ranks on the board. Well, assuming he gave me the chance to take Gray or Oregon down. Nevertheless, North, Carolina, and myself got into a respectful posture and waited for the Director to speak.

"Agents, I am given to understand that a certain Insurrectionist general contacted Agent Colorado today. Can you confirm this?"

I stepped forward.

"Yes, Sir. Oregon entered my room around fifteen hundred hours today and informed me that he had a call for me from General Gray. He tried to bait me with some information about Project Freelancer and also accused you of participating in illegal activities. When I declined his offer to aid in Oregon's little attempt at espionage, he ordered Oregon to attack me. Luckily, Agent Carolina subdued him in the gym."

The Director nodded and turned around. Silence followed for a minute or so, and then Psi appeared on my shoulder.

"Director, you might be interested to know that I managed to trace the comm. Through Oregon's helmet when he gave it to Agent Colorado. The call was coming from a remote of this planet; Seras Prime."

I felt my heart rate rise a little at Psi's discovery. Seras Prime was the planet that essentially began everything about the rivalry (if you could call a burning hatred that) between General Gray and myself. The Insurrection had a very strong hold on the planet, and was the site of many Freelancer missions months ago to try and make way for the UNSC to seize control. However when several missions went awry, Project Freelancer moved on to targets that could be done quickly and efficiently to make way for already present UNSC forces to weed our remaining Innies. If General Gray were on Seras Prime… well, it would be a fitting place for him to meet his end. The Director had turned around at this news, and I felt him rest his eyes on me. I could almost imagine what he saw. I had a knowing smirk on my face, and I had brought my hands up to crack my knuckles. Psi, too, had noticed my behavior, and seemed concerned for my line of thinking. He knew all too well what had happened on Seras Prime.

"FILSS?"

"Yes, Director?"

"Please send Agent Texas to the bridge."

"Of course, Director."

FILSS' cheery voice was a stark contrast to the reaction I felt upon hearing her name. Why in the world would the Director need Texas? He had three ready and waiting agents in front of his face, plus three more over at interrogation. If the Director thought that he could send his newest number one off on an assassination attempt without the people Gray actually angered (such as myself), he was dead wrong. North, Carolina, and myself all looked at each other. North seemed more bewildered than anything, but Carolina and I felt nothing but resentment. The way her posture immediately stiffened hinted at tightly controlled anger, and when the bridge door opened, Carolina's anger only grew.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Agent Texas, General Gray's location has been pinpointed. I trust that you have been reading up on the encounters Project Freelancer has had with him?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm prepared to take him down."

Her voice had a hard determination, but I felt nothing but anger. What kind of right did the Director have to deny me the revenge I yearned for? Furious, I stepped forward.

"Director, Sir, I am more than prepared to take this mission on. If you let York, North, and Carolina come with me, we'd be in and out within minutes."

He turned to me, the frown becoming more pronounced.

"Mind your place, Agent Colorado. Seras Prime is still under heavy Insurrectionist control. We'll need the best agent to take Gray out and get back to the ship before we are engaged."

I felt Psi urging me to accept the Director's order, but ignored him.

"Don't deny me the chance to take this bastard down, Director! I can do this just as well as Agent Texas can! Give me the chance to prove it!"

Now his eyes grew stony, as if I had personally insulted him.

"Very well, Agent Colorado. You will join Agent Texas and take down General Gray. However do not make a single mistake, and do not alert the Insurrection to your presence. I want him dead, and I want the both of you back on this ship within thirty minutes. It will take us three days to reach Seras Prime. I expect you to be ready by then."

I noticed that he specifically was lecturing me instead of Texas, and I grew even more irate. However as rash as I could be, I knew that I had gained a bit of ground, and further arguing might just revoke my progress. Nodding stiffly, I stalked off of the bridge and towards my room. If Oregon had messed it up even a bit, I'd take out some anger on him. I slid my door open and walked in, pleased to see that the only thing out of a place was a lamp that had broken. I sighed and disposed of the shards, stopping only when yet another knock sounded on my door.

"_Psi?_"

"_It's North._"

I nodded, and called out a brief, "come in!"

North entered, still in his bulky purple and green armor. He removed his helmet and sighed, shaking his head in an exasperated way.

"'Rado, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you were crazy as hell. No one faces the Director down like that and usually wins."

"If I had actually won, it would just be me going down to the planet with you, Carolina, and York. Instead, I get stuck Texas."

"Hey, Tex isn't that bad. She's quiet most of the time and a real loner, but she'd have the back of anyone on the team."

I sighed and went back to combing my hair.

"I hate it when you're right."

He laughed and draped his arms over my shoulders.

"Well get used to it, you're not getting rid of me anytime soon."

I set the comb down and craned my head to look at him.

"I think that's something I can live with."

He gave me another dazzling smile.

"Now hurry up; we still have dinner to go to."

I snorted in amusement and ditched my t-shirt to change into a fresher one. Looking at North, I could see that his eyes had gone wide, and a slight blush had crept up on his cheeks. I threw him a saucy smirk and pulled on the new shirt over my head.

"Something wrong, North?"

"Wrong? Nothing at all!"

"Well then, shall we go and pick up our guests?"

He smirked and opened the door.

"If my lady wishes it."

We laughed as we walked down the hall. The Freelancer rooms were alphabetized, and it didn't take too long to get to the room of Agent Kansas. She answered fairly quickly, and I was surprised at her appearance. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a classy bun on top of her head, and apparently she'd somehow gotten some make-up onboard the ship, for her eyes were overlaid with a shade of brown eye shadow that really brought out her eyes. She smiled shyly at my obvious inspection.

"Do I look ok?"

"You look great, Kansas."

North nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure a certain gray and yellow Freelancer would be impressed…"

He winked at Kansas and a blush crept up on her cheeks. I felt a smirk crawl on my face. Kansas and Wash were opposites when it came to social interactions, but they both could teach each other things in a relationship. Beckoning Kansas out, I began walking towards Wash's room. Kansas' confused voice rang out in the hallway.

"Uh, guys? The mess hall is the other way; where are we going?"

North and I exchanged a brief, knowing look before continuing down the hall. Kansas grew silent as she realized that wherever we were going was on a need-to-know basis. As we stopped at Wash's room, I saw Kansas' face go a bit pale as she read the nameplate. I nudged her gently.

"Don't be worried. I know for a fact that Wash likes you a lot. I can tell that you like him too."

North knocked on the door, and a very casual Wash answered the door. For once, Wash actually had his armor and helmet off, and was dressed like the rest of us: Freelancer sweats and a standard t-shirt with his state name on the back. His sandy brown hair was tousled, probably an effort to get rid of helmet hair, but other than that he gave a grin that lit up his coffee brown eyes. Kansas looked bashful as hell, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ready to go, Wash?" I questioned smugly.

He threw me a curious glance, and I stepped aside to reveal Kansas. I saw Wash's eyes go slightly wider, and I could see North trying to hide a laugh. For a second the two stared at each other, and then Wash gave a sheepish grin.

"Oh, hey Kansas. I didn't know you were coming too."

Kansas looked positively cherry red.

"I d-didn't know you were coming either."

Both Freelancers turned to look at North and I as realization set in. I felt North's arm go around my waist as he pulled me closer, and both of us had triumphant smiles. There was no way either of them could back out now, at least not gracefully. If possible, Kansas' blush had grown fiercer, and Wash looked positively dumbstruck. I raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well since there are no objections, our dinner awaits us!"

This seemed to snap both of them out of their daze. Wash was the first to voice his suspicions.

"Isn't Wyoming joining us? After all, he helped knock some sense into North too."

North took the liberty of replying; "Agent Wyoming is still resting up from his injuries during our mission for the Sarcophagus. He won't be joining us tonight."

Wash narrowed his eyes at the blonde Freelancer, and North merely smiled innocently back. Before any of us could try and break the growing silence, we arrived at the mess hall. The normal long tables had been cleared out, and in the center was a single, round table capable of seating four people. Candles lit the center of it, and four wine glasses were present. The whole set up looked like a stereotypical setting for a nice dinner. North looked at me questioningly, and I raised the wine bottle in my hands.

"Don't worry, I'm fully prepared to get drunk tonight, North."

North smiled and beckoned us over to the table. Like the gentleman he was, he pulled out a chair for me. I smiled in thanks, and watched as Wash, blushing furiously, did the same for Kansas. Once we were all seated, North looked around.

"So sorry you two for inviting you both without telling the other, but 'Rado and I agreed that you two weren't going to get together without a bit of a push. So what better way than to invite you on a double date?"

Wash and Kansas looked at each other, and both quickly looked away, their cheeks red with embarrassment. This was all rather amusing for me, and I could tell North was feeling the same way. Admittedly, I did feel a bit sorry for embarrassing both of them so efficiently. However when the kitchen staff came out dressed like fancy waiters, both of them seemed to trade their nervousness for a bit of amusement. North had managed to pull off all of the stops for this dinner. I opted for spaghetti and meatballs, North was content with fettuccini alfredo, Wash decided that lasagna sounded appetizing, and Kansas ultimately chose spaghetti and meatballs like I had. While we waited for our food, North and I tried making conversation, but the mood really only picked up when I brought both Wash and Kansas up to speed on the Oregon situation.

"Oregon was a traitor this whole time?! How did we not pick up on that?"

I shrugged my shoulders at Wash's incredulous question.

"I had my suspicions, but Oregon just didn't seem entirely the type. Plus I thought that the Director had organized some kind of test for Psi and I to see what we would do."

Psi had opted to shut down for the night to give our little group some privacy, and I was thankful for his thoughtfulness. Kansas seemed confused.

"Oregon was always so nice though, why did he turn to an Innie general and offer his help?"

North clasped his hands thoughtfully.

"Perhaps the Innies were holding something over his head?"

Wash nodded in agreement, his puzzled frown showing how surprised he was at Oregon's betrayal. The table grew silent again, thoughts of a traitor among us making the air heavy. However, a smile made its way across my face.

"Let's not worry about Oregon tonight, guys. We're supposed to be having a nice dinner. Plus, I'm going to go kick Gray's ass the day after tomorrow anyway. Oh, food!"

The kind kitchen staff brought out a platter of food and set our chosen meals in front of us. We thanked them and dug in. Wash took a bite and gave us all a surprised look.

"Damn, I wish they'd serve this all the time. This lasagna isn't half bad."

Kansas gave him a shy smile.

"Mind if I have a taste?"

Wash nodded and slid his plate closer to Kansas. She took a fairly modest slice on her fork and chewed slowly, a thoughtful look on her face. Slowly, she nodded in approval.

"It's pretty good. My mother used to make lasagna by hand at home, so I'm always eager to see if anything is as good as hers. No luck so far."

Wash perked up.

"Did she make a lot of homemade meals? My mom wasn't anywhere near gifted in the kitchen."

Kansas smiled again.

"Yes, she loves to cook. When I visit her next I'm sure she'll cook me anything I want. You all could visit sometime," her cheeks started going scarlet again, "unless that seems weird to ask."

I chuckled lightly and popped the cork off of the wine. Almost instantly, everyone had his or her glass up. I laughed at their initiative.

"I guess we all need a drink tonight."

Eventually the bottle was gone, our laughter sounded off every time someone said something, and I was feeling than I had in days. Kansas was currently telling us a story about the time she nearly shot her CO because she mistook him for a bear.

"So… so the bushes are rustling, right? We're training up in the Alaskan wilderness to survive dangerous terrain, and obviously you have to think of animals. Anyways, I am freaking out, because all I have is a pistol. No way a magnum is going to take down a bear. I get my pistol out, and fire in front of the bushes, and," Kansas starts laughing hysterically, "my CO comes out yelling at me, asking me what the fuck I was shooting at and telling me not to discharge my weapon in potentially hostile territory. I had potato duty for a week!"

We all broke down in laughter. Though the story itself wasn't that humorous, everything was becoming funnier as dinner rolled on. The spaghetti was long gone and the candles burning down to about half when we decided to call it a night. All of us tried to keep quiet as we walked down the hallway. North and I opted to walk with Wash and Kansas as he returned her to her room. Outside the door, Kansas gave us all a wide smile.

"Thanks for inviting me to dinner you guys; I really enjoyed it."

North smiled back.

"Glad you had fun, and thank YOU for helping me with my little 'Rado problem."

I scoffed and lightly punched his arm. Kansas giggled and looked at Wash, who had been silent. She looked back at us, and then whipped towards Wash and planted a kiss right on his cheek. It was over so fast that I didn't Wash realized what had happened. However as Kansas shut her door, Wash dropped his jaw and looked at us in amazement.

"Did she just…?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"Yes, Romeo, she really did. You better be good to her or I'll kick your ass."

"Uh-huh, uh sure, I'm just… I'm going to go to bed. Thanks for dinner you two, have a good night."

We murmured farewells and walked back up the hall. I felt myself leaning into North as we got to my room, and he laughed softly.

"Someone is either really tired, or had too much to drink at dinner."

I giggled slightly and pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Excuse me, sir, but I am perfectly capable of having a couple drinks without losing any important abilities."

North opened my door and gently led me over to my bed before smirking.

"I take it balance isn't important then?"

"That is a matter of opinion, my dear North Dakota. We are on a ship that is thousands of miles above some random ass planet, so I don't find balance to be a necessity at the moment."

I lay back on the bed, closing my eyes. The night had ended perfectly, even if it hadn't been so great earlier in the day. Blinking, I looked sleepily at North.

"Hey, you wanna stay here for the night? I wouldn't mind the company."

North contemplated for a second and then joined me on the bed.

"Sure, as long as sleep is the first order of business. You have a mission to prep for, 'Rado, and don't forget it."

A yawn stretched across my face and I snuggled closer to North before drawing the covers over us.

"I know… I'll get back to business tomorrow. Will you give me another sniper lesson? I have to do this right. I can't afford to mess up."

I felt North smooth a hand over my hair, and when he spoke his breath tickled my ear.

"You won't mess up, 'Rado. You're a damned good Freelancer."

I frowned silently, contemplating something.

"Am I good, North, or am I just lucky?"

"Now come on, you're not giving yourself any credit. You saved Carolina in the line of fire. You managed to climb up a cliff after getting shot. I'd be lying if I said that you didn't deserve your spot on the leader board. Why are you doubting yourself?"

"No reason."

North scoffed, and I could almost picture him rolling his eyes.

"Come on, 'Rado, just tell me the truth."

Grumbling at my bad lying skills, I informed him of my conversation earlier in the day with Texas. North squeezed me sympathetically.

"Come on, she's just trying to give you advice. It was a little harsh to say that all you've done is due to luck, but we both know you have more than luck on your side."

I felt a smile creep up on my face.

"You have more faith in me than I do."

"Well you've more than proven how badass you are to me. Do you want that sniper lesson after your match tomorrow?"

"Match tomorrow? Oh, right. Kansas and I finally got assigned to spar."

I remembered North telling me that Kansas was like a female Maine. Frankly, the thought was kind of terrifying considering how hard Maine could punch. Nevertheless, I planned to give the match my best shot. It was important to be prepared for anything, and it had been a while since I had practiced in hand-to-hand combat.

North chuckled quietly.

"Well you're not going to beat her if you don't get some sleep."

Another yawn split my jaw, and I closed my eyes sleepily.

"You're bossy."

"Only when I'm looking out for you. Good night, 'Rado."

I hadn't slept so well in ages. Whether it was North's presence, or the realization that General Gray had finally revealed his hiding place, my sleep hadn't been broken once. Even FILSS' early rise-and-shine greeting didn't spoil my contented mood. Stretching, I noticed North still asleep beside me and smiled. Carefully, so as not to disturb him, I slipped out of bed and ditched my sweats and t-shirt for my black under armor. Next came my armor. My helmet had had to be replaced, but luckily it was still the Raider variant and had the same paint job. The only thing missing were the horns from my old helmet.

"You didn't think you could sneak out of here without saying goodbye, did you, Ace?"

The playful nickname from yesterday's sniper lesson danced across his lips, and beneath my helmet, I smiled.

"Why would I say goodbye if I'm just going to say hello later? Besides, I didn't want to wake you."

"I wouldn't miss watching you beat up on another Freelancer. I'll meet you in the training room; I just need to grab my own gear."

I nodded and waved him off. The walk to the training room was actually nice. Other agents called out a few good luck wishes to me, and I accepted them with nods and the occasional smile. Now that Oregon had been caught, I felt more at ease with the other agents. My first stop of the day was the viewing room. Wash and Kansas were the only ones in there, and both of them looked up at my approach. Kansas was the first to acknowledge me.

"Morning, 'Rado. Ready for our fight today? Wash has been telling me to watch out for your tricks."

"Oh has he? Well I might have to come up with some new ones then."

Kansas laughed and her posture grew more reserved.

"Thanks for inviting Wash and I to dinner. That little push was just what we needed."

I waved her comment off.

"Hey, no problem. At least it didn't take anything more drastic than a nice dinner."

Wash nodded, understanding what I was referring to. FILSS' voice cut into our silence.

"Agents Colorado and Kansas, please report to the training room floor!"

Smiling, I strode off towards the entrance. It was just another typical day in Project Freelancer.

_**Action will come next chapter :D However I mainly wanted the double date to be the focus ;) No worries though; you'll see more Wash and Kansas in the future.**_


	9. Chapter 9: Assuming Control

_**Chapter nine :D I sincerely hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!**_

_**Chapter 9**_

"Beginning hand-to-hand combat. Today's match will be between Agent Colorado, and Agent Kansas."

There were no pillars raised from the floor, and no weapons table to pick and choose from. It was Kansas and myself, separated by only a few feet. Both of us slipped into our combat stances and began circling, sizing each other up as FILSS listed off rules and technicalities that I already knew by heart.

"The Director has requested that this training session be reduced to the best two rounds out of three for the sake of Agent Colorado having time to rest and prepare."

I raised an eyebrow in interest. The Director normally didn't shorten training sessions even if there was a mission coming up. He was either worried about the outcome, or genuinely wanted to give me time to get ready to hit the dirt. Regardless, Psi urged me not to think about the Director's motives, and instead focus on Kansas. Her Venator armor fluidly followed her movements, and the blood red color gave her an intimidating presence. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to think of my strategy. I hadn't seen any of her fights, so Psi had no recommendations for me regarding my tactics. As the sound of the starting bell rang, I decided that winging it was my best option.

Kansas was the first one to make a move, and she powered towards me like a racecar in a race. Her speed was surprising; I expected her to move at around Maine's speed. Whereas I could easily outmaneuver Maine with my speed alone, Kansas brought on the challenge of being able to (supposedly) hit harder than I could, and also had the ability to match my speed. As she rushed me, I slipped to the side and flashed out a quick fist that sent her sprawling to the floor. However she merely grunted in surprise and leapt back up, turning on me quickly with a clenched left fist. Leaping to the right to avoid her left hook, I instead was sent flying back as she brought her right fist up and slammed it across my helmet."

"_Damn, she really DOES hit hard._"

"_So I saw. She relies on brute strength and speed, but I know you're more cunning. Time to come up with some fancy footwork, 'Rado._"

Smirking, I leapt off of the ground and rushed for Kansas head on. To her credit, she held her stance as I came barreling towards her. I readied a fist as if I was going to throw a punch, but at the last second I dropped my attack and dropped to my knees. Thinking quickly, I dropped on my back and began spinning my legs. An exclamation of surprise told me I had hit my mark, and Kansas joined me on the ground. I could feel Psi urging me on to go for a pin, and I happily obliged. For the next two minutes, Kansas and I rolled around the ground, both of us trying to get an advantage over the other. However it was only when I landed a precise punch on her visor that Kansas was dazed enough for me to pin her.

"Round one, complete! Point goes to Agent Colorado!"

Grinning broadly, I removed myself from Kansas and stood up, offering her my hand. She accepted it, and as I pulled her up, she gave me a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

The next round proved to be a repeat of the previous one. Kansas was good- hell, she was a great fighter- but once again Psi's advice proved to be my ticket to victory. Kansas took the loss good naturedly, promising a rematch when I got back from Seras Prime. We were only two days away now, and I could feel myself getting more and more anxious. Thankfully, my next stop for the day was a sniper lesson with North. This time, Wyoming had been well enough to join us, and he wasn't alone. Floating next to Wyoming's shoulder was a small blue person that vaguely reminded me of the Counselor. North and Wyoming had been chatting amiably in the target practice area, but turned at my entrance. North flashed me a smile, and I removed my helmet to return the favor. Turning to Wyoming, I chuckled slightly.

"Well, looks like you've joined the AI club, Wyoming. This is Gamma I assume?"

The British agent nodded.

"Right you are, my dear. Gamma is deceit. He'll be quite useful for dealing with the Insurrection."

I was extremely curious as to how Wyoming would improve with Gamma on his side now. Carolina had told me that York was due for implantation next, and I was curious whom York would get as a match. What had surprised me was how Carolina hadn't been put forward for an AI, though I hadn't talked to her since yesterday; for all I knew that could have changed. Shaking away the thoughts, I picked up one of the snipers and made my way to a lane. North and Wyoming followed. North began the lesson.

"Wyoming and I are going to teach you close combat fighting with the sniper today. It's a useful skill to have, particularly if you don't have the time to switch your weapons when an enemy is almost on top of you. The challenge of it is lining up a good shot without the help of the scope. You're essentially firing blind."

"Another challenge about it, 'Rado, is keeping calm while facing down your opponent. Fear or tension will almost certainly cost you your accuracy."

North nodded in agreement to Wyoming's addition.

"Just breath, 'Rado, and be confident that you WILL hit your target. Skill is only part of being able to fight in close quarters. The other part is confidence."

I nodded and watched as the target was brought closer. At the range they brought it in, a shotgun would be the most effective choice.

"Wouldn't it be more effective to just run up and shove the barrel in their chest?"

Wyoming chuckled in amusement, as if he was indulging a child.

"Do you want to eat a face full of shotgun pellets?"

I frowned and rolled my eyes.

"Of course not."

I felt North's reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"What Wyoming is trying to say is that rushing an opponent is never a good idea, particularly with a sniper rifle."

I gave him a dry smile, but I made my mild amusement clear.

"Really? You don't say?"

North sighed in exasperation. The lesson went by quicker than I thought it would, and surprisingly I hadn't done half bad. Granted, Wyoming and North were still far superior to my skills, but I was confident that I had a firm enough grasp to be able to protect myself. North and Wyoming accompanied me to the mess hall, and I broke off for the serving line. Between fighting Kansas and handling a rifle for nearly three hours, my stomach was ordering me to feed it. The mess hall's teriyaki chicken had been my favorite dish, and luckily it was being served today. After filling the rest of my tray up with an acceptable amount of other foods, I made my way over to the table. Carolina was discussing the AI implantation process with York. However I caught something interesting.

"…gave mine up to Maine. He needs to be able to communicate with us somehow, and an AI would be the best way. The Director agreed, so Maine will be after you for implantation, York."

Sitting down, I looked over curiously.

"What's going on?"

York looked over and flashed a welcoming smile, which I returned.

"Carolina is giving up her AI to Maine."

I looked up at her, surprised.

"Really? That's extremely generous of you, Carolina. I'm honestly surprised that the Director agreed so easily; our AIs are partnered to our specific personalities."

Psi was evidently surprised as well, and I could feel him running calculations about scenarios of non-matched AI and human pairings. Strangely enough, I noticed that he didn't share his findings with me once he had ceased his thinking. Dismissing his behavior as being a result of inconclusive results, I dug into my food. South was brooding yet again and seemed to be thinking about something. Wash and Kansas were laughing over something at the far end of the table. York and Carolina had moved on to dissecting my fight with Kansas, and North and Wyoming were discussing ways to conceal their locations while sniping. With all the routine conversation, I almost managed to forget about the mission. Maine walked in and took his place across the table from me. Looking at him, I could understand why Carolina was giving up her AI to him. I don't know how I would cope without the ability to communicate effectively. I murmured a greeting to the EVA helmeted Freelancer, and he nodded back.

As I munched on a few strawberries, I couldn't help but wonder how Texas would perform in the field. She was the new number one for a reason, right? I didn't have to like her, but I sure as hell needed to depend on her once we got planet side. I hadn't forgotten how she had beat down Wyoming, Maine, and York without issue, but training was different from actual Innies. For all I knew, she could freeze up in the field.

"'Rado? Hello? MoI to 'Rado, do you copy?"

Shaking out of my thoughts, I blinked to see York waving a hand in front of my face.

"Hm? What is it?"

Carolina looked distinctly unhappy as York smirked and said, "you have a visitor."

He pointed behind me, and I turned to see Agent Texas standing in the mess hall door. Sighing, I stood and cleared off my tray in the nearest trashcan.

"I'll see you guys later."

Carolina and York nodded, and North gave me what I thought was a reassuring smile. Walking over to where Texas was standing, I slipped my helmet on and leaned on my right leg.

"Can I help you, Texas?"

My voice was even, but anyone could tell that I didn't consider Texas a friend. I could imagine her raising an eyebrow, but she did nothing, contenting herself with motioning to me.

"Come on. We're visiting Oregon in interrogation, and we're going to _make_ him tell us about the forces surrounding General Gray."

At this I felt my mood brighten. Now she was speaking my language. I smirked and jogged a bit to come up to her side.

"I don't think physical persuasion is going to work on Oregon. He knows that we need him too much."

She spared a glance at me, and said in a determined voice, "we're not going to use 'physical persuasion,' we're going to use his emotions against him."

It took me a couple of minutes to realize that Texas was leading me towards the bridge. My curiosity grew, until we stepped through the door and we found ourselves in the presence of the Director. His usual shadow, the Counselor, was off talking to one of the other crewmembers present. Without turning around, he acknowledged our presence.

"Agents Texas and Colorado, I do not need to tell you how important it is that we have information regarding General Gray's current forces." He turned around and strode towards us, a file in his hand. "Here is the information you requested, Texas. Do what you must to get Oregon to talk."

"Yes, Sir."

I saluted respectfully, surprise filling me, as Texas did not follow my lead. More surprising was how the Director didn't seem to care. My suspicions about Texas rose yet again, but I said nothing as I followed the black-armored Freelancer towards interrogation. The first door we went in was the observation room. The design hadn't changed much from previous centuries; the glass was one way and Oregon probably had no idea that I was watching him. He had long been stripped of his armor, and from the bruises I saw on him, and the black left eye he was sporting, I could only assume that South had been given the green light to beat the shit out of him. I would have felt bad for him had he not sold out North and the others. Without looking at Texas, I spoke in a cool tone.

"So what's in that file of yours, Texas?"

"Tex."

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Tex. Everyone else seems to, and it's getting pretty damn annoying to have you calling me Texas."

"Ok then, _Tex_, what's in the file?"

She tossed it onto the table, and I too that as my invitation to look at it, permission or not. Inside, Oregon's life story was spread out in front of. His military career, his mission briefs as a Freelancer, even his grades back in high school. Looking over the information, one could only wonder how Oregon could have joined the military. His real name was Christopher Gray, and he hadn't done any sports in high school. In fact, the only thing extracurricular he had done was the yearbook team. He went to college and got a Bachelor's in Computer Sciences, but instead joined up with the UNSC. As I looked over his file, I spotted something that nearly made me drop the folder in shock. There was a picture in the file of Oregon and his parents on his graduation day, and staring between the Oregon and his father, I couldn't believe how foolish I had been not to see the resemblance.

The man with a hand on Oregon's shoulder and smiling in a cunning way was no other than General Gray himself. The caption on the photo had his first name as Adam. I shook my head slowly and set the photo back in the folder before looking back at Tex, a humorless chuckle escaping me.

"I… am a fucking idiot. I should have seen the resemblance between them the second I got back to the ship. The same eyes, the same smirk… I'm a blind fool."

The taller Freelancer crossed her arms and shook her head.

"No way you could have known, Colorado. However we're going to use this family tie against him. Come on."

She swept out of the room and left me to grab the folder and follow behind her. By the time I entered the room, she had already taken a seat across from Oregon and was staring him down. From the wary way he was eyeing her, I couldn't imagine her being more intimidating. I smirked under my helmet and opened the folder to the picture of Oregon and his father before slamming it on the table in front of him.

"Cute family picture, _Christopher_. I didn't know you had such a troublesome pedigree. Did you plan on telling me before or after you handed me over to the General yet again? Was the only reason you did all this to make daddy proud?"

Oregon narrowed his eyes.

"Go to Hell, _Serena_, you don't know anything."

I slammed a fist onto the table and leaned towards him menacingly.

"Listen up, Asshole, and listen well. You sold out North and everyone to daddy dearest, you nearly got me killed, and then you actually TRIED to kill me yourself. My patience with your bullshit is at an end, and if you don't give us the information we want, Tex won't be able to stop me from ripping you to pieces."

His earlier bravado gone, Oregon flinched slightly, and I walked back towards the door. Tex waved me on, and I nodded, exiting the room in favor of watching the process through the observation window. Interrogation was not my strong suit. I preferred the more direct method of shooting first and asking questions later. Behind the glass, Oregon seemed to relax ever so slightly at my departure. Tex began the interrogation by asking about his home life, and about his early days in the UNSC. I narrowed my eyes. Oregon wasn't stupid enough to fall into Tex's prodding for information. She was probably trying to get a timeline going to determine when he had decided to aid his father in the Insurrection.

The information he spouted was next to useless for our cause. Eventually I began to get so fed up that I felt my fists opening and closing in frustration. As if sensing this, Tex got up from her seat and left the room. The door to the observation window opened, and in strode the ebony Freelancer.

"He's not cracking. Any ideas?"

I snorted in barely suppressed anger.

"Number One doesn't know what to do? Shocking."

"Cut the attitude, Colorado."

Ignoring her, I called out, "Psi?"

Ever prompt, Psi almost immediately appeared.

"How can I help you, 'Rado?"

I motioned to Oregon. "You've been hearing all of this just as I have. Did you notice any reactions at all that we could exploit?"

Psi crossed his arms, and though he had a helmet on, I could feel him contemplating everything he had heard and seen.

"He did not seem to react to any of Agent Texas' questions. The most reaction I saw was from you threatening him, 'Rado."

"Are you suggesting that I beat the shit out of him?"

"Essentially yes."

I smiled and cracked my knuckles. It was finally time to do things my way. I pointed at Tex's sidearm.

"Does that have live rounds?"

She pulled it off of her belt and handed it to me.

"Go find out."

I grabbed it and left. The door to the interrogation room was heavy and steel, but that didn't stop me from kicking it open with a loud crash. Oregon bolted upright, took one look at my sidearm, and immediately grew alarmed. Without hesitating, I took aim and fired. The resounding boom and subsequent screaming told me that yes; the gun did indeed have live rounds. Oregon was on the ground screaming over his now non-existent kneecap. I casually clicked the safety on and holstered the gun.

"Quit your bitching, Chris. You got shot in the knee: big whoop. Try getting shot in the gut and then start crying. We could demonstrate right now! If you DON'T want to experience what I did, then I recommend you tell me exactly where your father is, what troops he has around him, and why he wanted information on Project Freelancer."

Though he was obviously in extreme pain, he glared up at me with eyes filled with hatred.

"Fuck you, Colorado! AGH!"

His scream came as another bullet crashed through his other knee. I sighed dramatically.

"Tsk tsk, Chris. You're making me get blood all over the interrogation room. If you tell me what I want to know we might be able to fix your legs and get this room cleaned up; you will be staying in it for the duration of our journey after all. Tell you what, I'll let you think it over for a bit."

As if nothing was wrong, I walked quietly out of the room, making sure to shut and lock the protesting steel door behind me. Psi appeared by my shoulder, and I could feel his concern radiating from him.

"That was… rather brutal."

"He deserved nothing less, Psi. We need answers, and he clearly wasn't going to cooperate without an incentive."

"'Rado, maybe you should let Agent Texas continue the interrogation… I feel you are emotionally unfit to continue."

My moods were already strained, so I felt my temper decide to rear its ugly head.

"We need answers, Psi! I'll be damned if we go on this mission without them! With your support or not, I WILL break Christopher Gray."

Psi was silent for a moment, but before he could reply, Tex stormed out of the observation room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! We're supposed to rough him up; not kill him!"

I leaned against the doorframe nonchalantly.

"He's not dead. Just in a lot of pain."

"Well he's GOING to be dead if he doesn't get help! Damn it, Colorado. Go and get your temper under control before you talk to Chris again."

I stalked off without another word. What the hell did SHE know? It's not like HER methods were getting us any answers. Grumbling, I didn't even notice South until I ran into her.

"Watch where you're going!"

Looking up, I could see her fiery green eyes glaring at mine, and even the scar on her cheek seemed angrier than normal. Tossing her wordless look through my helmet, I walked past without a word. A hand landed heavily on my shoulder and spun me around, and I quickly realized that South wasn't going to take any of my shit.

"Don't think you can just walk away from ME, Colorado."

"I think I can, South."

I tried walking away again, but South's temper must have gotten the better of her, as I felt a fist slam into my back. The force sent me flying into a wall, and though my armor had protected me from the worst of it, I still felt a bit dazed. However almost immediately, I felt my anger get the better of me. Spinning around I grabbed South's arm as she went in for another punch, and tossed her down the hallway. Doors opened, and personnel came rushing out to see what the commotion was. Most of them, when they saw it was two Freelancers fighting it out, promptly got away from us as fast as they could. Those who stayed were Freelancers hoping for a good show. I saw Carolina looking on with a look that told me she knew this was coming. North was standing with Wash and Kansas, and his blue eyes were wide and horrified. Briefly I felt a stab of guilt, but that evaporated as South landed a punch that sent me slamming into the wall yet again. However, being the skilled fighter she was, she followed up my continuously slamming her fists into my head.

With each blow that rained down I felt myself slipping into unconscious, but Psi urged me forward with a kick that sent her skidding away from me. I peeled myself off the wall and immediately slumped forward slightly, my head swimming with dizziness. South seemed barely winded and charged at me again. I readied a fighting stance, but before she could reach me, another Freelancer came barreling out and kicked South away and down the hallway. Shock filled me as I realized that it was North who had interfered.

He looked at South regretfully, who had gotten up and was glowering at North incredulously, stalked towards him menacingly.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Why are you protecting HER?!

The regretful look on North's face didn't change.

"She was beat enough, South. You probably gave her a concussion, and from the way you were fighting, you were going to do more than just beat her down."

I ripped my helmet off, and North glanced over at me in concern as I walked over and stood facing his barely younger twin.

"If she wants to fight, North, I'm more than willing to oblige. After dealing with Oregon all day, I need something to punch."

North came me a hard look.

"Your head looks like it hurts like hell, and your lip is bleeding. I think you're done for today."

I scowled and looked away, feeling my mood plummet further. A small part of me realized that I was probably being a bitch, but I was too riled up to really care. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed internally and walked towards my room. We had one day until we got to Seras Prime, and we had no information whatsoever, and the only guy who had the information was probably passed out in the med bay. As I entered the comfort of my room, I could feel Psi's sympathy pulsing through my head. I knew what he was reading in my thoughts. After General Gray was killed, what would I be fighting for? I still hated the Insurrection more than anything, but Blake had been dead for years, and I had more than repaid his death in blood. Aaron had been dead for a while too, and I had taken the lives of enough Innies on the day he died to make up for his death a hundred times over. My legacy at Freelancer was really all I had left, in addition to North.

"Agent Colorado?"  
I sighed as FILSS' voice came over my room intercom.

"Yes?"

"Agent Texas has requested your presence in the medical bay. She says that she has the information you needed."

At this, my gaze hardened and I slammed my helmet back on my head.

"I'll be right there."

_**Guess what guys? Next chapter is mission time xD My apologies if this chapter is blah. This giant block decided to park itself in the way of my creativity.**_


	10. Chapter 10: Lessons in Improv

_**Oh my gosh, it's mission time! Will General Gray forever be a thorn in 'Rado's side, or will he finally be put down? Only one way to find out :P This update is going out a day early because I'm going to be super busy tomorrow with a bit of cleaning and Dungeons and Dragons :D Anyways, enjoy!**_

_**Chapter 10**_

Seras Prime was the same as I remembered it. As I prepared for my confrontation with Gray, I could see the planet outside of a window. Seras Prime was almost entirely grassland, with a few forests here and there. The climate was perfect for tornados, so all of the settlements came with tornado shelters that were easily accessible in every home. Granted, I just wanted the whole planet wiped from existence in order to get rid of all memories there, but to other observers it could be considered pretty. Tex had opted to take a sniper rifle and a pistol, while I opted for a sniper and two SMGs strapped to my thighs. Instead of packing medical equipment, I filled my pack to the brim with spare clips for my SMGs, and a couple for my rifle. On a whim, I packed some demo charges in case we need to blast our way into Gray's compound. To my surprise, Carolina had accompanied me to the armory. As I gathered supplies she was quiet, but as Tex left, she finally spoke up.

"Be careful where you place your trust, 'Rado, and watch your back."

I nodded and slipped my helmet on.

"Don't worry, Carolina, I plan on coming back in one piece, and without any extra bullet holes. Just make sure Oregon stays where he is in the med bay. If he manages to call Gray, our cover is going to blown before we even hit the dirt."

I frowned in annoyance. Oregon had been moved out of his cell for treatment, in addition to the interrogation room needing cleaning. Blood had a habit of being unpleasant to sleep in, in addition to shattered kneecaps being quite painful. Honestly, why the Director had agreed to Tex's request for the medical staff to treat Oregon was beyond me. The bastard didn't deserve it; in fact he was lucky I hadn't just put a bullet between his eyes when I had the chance. Regardless, my opinion hadn't been requested, and Oregon had been moved to the med bay. The only comfort I took was that he had a higher-ranked Freelancer guarding him 24/7. When I last looked, it was Maine's turn to guard him. I put a bracing hand on Carolina's shoulder and walked out, heading for the hangers. Upon entering the hanger door, I ran smack into North.

"Did you honestly think you were going to be able to get off of the ship without a goodbye?"

I smirked and crossed my arms.

"If Psi and I had wanted to remain hidden, we could have, right Psi?"

"Without a doubt, 'Rado. We make a good team like that."

I laughed, a genuine smile replacing my smirk.

"Damn straight we do, and we're going to prove it again today."

North smiled, but it fell away to a worried frown.

"Come back safe, 'Rado. I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back. Tex has your back. Just take down Gray, and then get back to the MoI, ok?"

Behind the safety of my helmet, my eyes grew wary. I didn't know if Tex had my back at all. It wasn't like we were friends or anything; in fact I had basically shoved myself into the mission. Nevertheless, I did my best to reassure my worried boyfriend.

"Hey, you know me; I'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. Gray won't know what hit him. Hell, I'll be back in time for dinner."

Smiling, I allowed herself to be drawn into North's embrace.

"You're not doing a very good job of reassuring me, 'Rado, but I'm going to hold you to that. If you aren't back by dinner, I'm coming down there myself to look for you."

Despite the seriousness of North's statement, I snorted in amusement.

"Good luck finding a pilot crazy enough to take you; 479er was the only volunteer for this particular drop-off, and the pick-up is going to be a lot messier whether everything goes according to plan or not."

With the shitty luck members of this project seemed to have, I was honestly expecting us to be captured. Or shot down. Or probably killed. All were very real possibilities, but the one that scared me most was being captured, not that I would admit that to North. I had to stay strong for the both of us. I walked away and towards 479er's bird, my hand slipping out of his. If the situation hadn't been so tense, I would've remarked how much of a cheesy goodbye it had been; the kind where the person leaving ends up never returning. I had every intention of returning, and with Gray's head as a trophy. The thought brought an amused smirk to my face that only Psi could truly see, and as the hatch closed, he chose to make himself known.

"_Agent Colorado, if I may make a suggestion._"

My curiosity got the better of me, particularly because he had swapped to using my full name.

"_What's up, Psi? Ideas to beat the shit out of Gray and his cronies?_"

"_No. I just wanted to say that if this mission goes badly… I recommend pulling my chip from your implant. It would be disastrous if I fell into enemy hands._"

If I had had a drink to spew, it would be all over my visor.

"_Psi, wasn't one of the main rules NOT to pull you from my head since it could cause brain damage or insanity or something?_"

"_While you are correct, some sacrifices have to be made in war, and the Freelancers that aren't accompanying us are depending on us to keep their secrets safe._"

I knew he was right, but at that moment, the weight of having an AI felt heavier than before. Psi was my personal responsibility. There was no way I could allow him to fall into hands other than Project Freelancer's or mine. If Gray got a hold of Psi… I could only imagine what information he would get. Steeling myself, I took a deep, steadying breath.

"_Psi, I swear that I won't let anything happen to you. Partners have each others' backs no matter what,_" a twinge of pain shot through me as I remembered Aaron, "_and I'm never going to let you down. Got it?_"

It almost felt like Psi was smiling as he replied, "_I've got your back too, 'Rado, and I'll always be here to help you out._"

I smirked, feeling my confidence of success return. Tex was quietly sitting in her seat, and to the untrained eye it would seem like she was talking to herself, but I knew she was having a private conversation. My immediate guess was that it was the Director, and my suspicions rose further. However, as if reading my mind, she dismissed her caller and spoke.

"Chill out, that was North. Tried making me swear to make sure you came back in one piece. If it makes you feel any better, I told him no guarantees."

I wasn't impressed so far with Tex herself, but I couldn't help the grin that cracked across my face.

"Yeah, well, that's North for you. He has to know that I'll do whatever it takes to get this job done."

"Whatever it takes? Does that include dying, Colorado?"

For a moment, I hesitated. Dying was not something I wanted to personally experience. Now that I had North and actual friends, I didn't want to lose that. However, I realized that it'd rather be me who died to keep everyone else safe. A groan rolled through me at how cheesy the sentiment was; I was getting soft.

"Yes, that includes dying, Texas. I bet you'd do the same for your friends and significant other. Assuming you have them."

Tex shook her head and answered tartly, "If you plan on dying, you'll make stupid decisions. Keep a clear head and plan on getting out alive."

"I don't plan on anything happening on this planet except for Gray dying, and us getting back to the ship for a hero's welcome."

Tex snorted in exasperation.

"Ya, we're real heroines alright."

The rest of the ride went by in silence, except for when we got five minutes away from our destination. 479er came over the mic, voice annoyed.

"We're coming up on some anti-air defenses, ladies. Your call to get the hell off of my bird now, or get a bumpy ride closer to the destination."

"Just drop us off here, 479er, we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves."

The pelican abruptly stopped moving forwards, and the back hatch opened. I stared at it, waiting for us to descend, but Tex merely got up, and leapt out. I felt my eyes go wide, and 479er threw me a look from the pilot's seat.

"Well? Are you going or not?"

I groaned inwardly, and forced myself out of the bird. Looking down, the drop was only about fifty feet above the tree line. Branches broke as I slammed through them, and I landed hard on my feet. My suit absorbed the shock thank goodness, but I vowed never to jump out of a Pelican again. Heights weren't my thing. Tex looked me over and gave me a sharp nod.

"We've got a new objective, Colorado. We're going to have a hard time getting out of here with those anti-air defenses up. We're going to set up some charges to neutralize them when we kill Gray. We're about a thirty-minute run from the defenses, and I want charges placed in five. Sync?"

"Sync. Let's get this done so we can go after Gray. Let's go in with weapons quiet, knives if you have them."

Silence fell after that, broken by the occasional birdcall. There were no roads in the forest, and for that we were thankful; less chances of being discovered. The only patrol we encountered was about a mile from our first target. There were four guys and I was positive that we could take them, but when I caught Tex's eye, she shook her head. Despite the silence, I understood what she meant: we couldn't take any risks. The patrol passed without incident, and we continued on. Ten minutes later, Tex and I were staring out at a small facility with four anti-aircraft guns. The guns themselves weren't very big, but they looked like they could do some serious damage.

Something tapped my shoulder, and I turned to see Tex gesturing at me and towards the two towers on the right. Even the dumbest Freelancer could understand what she was saying: we're splitting up. There was over seventy feet of open ground between the trees and the first gun. Personnel swarmed around the guns, and I silently hailed Psi.

"_Can you tap me into their communications?_"

"_I can certainly try._"

My helmet burst with static a couple times, and I felt myself wince, but soon I heard voices coming over.

"-spotted an unidentified blip on radar over thirty minutes ago. It disappeared, but General Gray wants us on high alert."

"Whatever. It was probably just a kite or something. He thinks it was a bunch of Freelancers, but we haven't heard anything out of the ordinary from the patrols AND shit isn't exploding."

I rolled my eyes, and Psi silently chuckled. They had no clue how wrong they were, but I was worried that Gray was already on high alert. So much for going in undetected. The two men that were talking rounded a corner from their post, and I took the opportunity to request Psi to run my invisibility. The charges were easy enough to set, the key was staying silent. A click here and there caused my heart rate to rise as the fear of being discovered spiked, but I set my first round of charges without incident. From my count, three minutes had passed since we had found the guns. My second target was in sight, and as luck would have it, no one was guarding it.

"_Psi, keep an eye on my motion tracker._"

"_Of course, 'Rado._"

While Psi had my back, I got to work with the charges. Halfway through my work, Psi flagged me.

"_'Rado, check your six!_"

Immediately I froze as two Innies passed by. Their lack of helmets revealed battle-scarred faces and cold, calculating eyes. Unlike the soldiers I had overheard earlier, these guys seemed intelligent enough to catch sight of my present for them. Tex had said my luck would run out eventually, and this was not one of those times. The two men passed without incident, and I sighed in relief. Another minute later, the charges were set, and I moved off towards a position Tex had marked. I assumed it to be our rendezvous, and sure enough, the black-armored woman was waiting for me.

"Took you long enough; I thought I was going to have to kill Gray without you."

"Well when two baddies nearly run into you, you tend to be late to social gatherings. Let's go."

The guns had been surrounded by forest, so we contentedly took our places among the shadows of the trees yet again. Psi had continued to run my invisibility without hint of stopping, and I allowed him free reign to do whatever he wished with my equipment. When we had gotten a good distance away, Tex stopped us.

"Colorado, while we were planting charges, I caught radio chatter that Gray had been moved into the most secure part of the facility we're going to. We're going to have to infiltrate the building to take him out."

I felt my temper start to boil at how our job had become that much harder. Gray was a coward; as soon as our ship came on radar he had hid. He had to know that nothing would stop me from getting to him. Sighing in frustration, I had Psi cut the invisibility.

"Where's our access point?"

"We don't need one. They know we're coming; we're just going to go in through the front door and wipe them out. At least after we sabotage their vehicles so he can't escape before we get to him."

"So we're running demolitions first? Why didn't we just bring Maine then? He could easily keep these assholes busy and break some shit at the same time."

"This mission requires finesse, Colorado. We can't just set off a whole base because it would be easier."

Rolling my eyes, I gave an annoyed reply.

"Sure we can. He has to know we're coming. Much as I hate to admit it, Gray isn't a dumbass."

"It's that fact that we're going to use against him. Now quit bitching and follow me."

Grumbling under my breath, I followed Tex towards our target. As I approached her, she held up a hand to stop me, and pointed out the structure ahead of us. The bunker looked to be about half the size of the _Mother of Invention_ and was settled down in a slight dip. I drew in my breath at the enormity of the facility. The place looked to be heavy with Insurrectionist activity, if the patrolling Gauss Warthogs were any clue. There would be no way to cleanly disable those without drawing attention to ourselves, and if there one thing that wasn't on my to-do list, it was to get hit by a Gauss round.

I turned to Tex.

"So, can we go in loud NOW?"

"What are you, crazy? That's more dangerous than necessary. We could just sneak in."

"How, may I ask, do you plan on running your invisibility while watching your motion tracker AND avoiding obstacles?" I inquired hot-headedly.

Tex grumbled something under her breath and almost immediately disappeared from view. _Fine, have fun with that. Dumb bitch._ Nevertheless, I requested Psi to run my invisibility again, and I tracked Tex down the incline. She was moving quickly, obviously not waiting for me to keep up, not that I cared. If she wanted this to be a more solo operation I could easily go off and kill Gray myself. However, I had to agree with her about the vehicles though, and followed her as she dove into a door. The lights were already on. The room was large enough to fit over fifteen scorpion tanks, but mostly held only warthogs and even some civilian vehicles. Neither of us ditched our invisibility, as there were armed guards patrolling through rows of cars. Tex's voice flooded over my helmet.

"Got anymore explosives?"

"Besides the ones we put on the guns? I'm out. Most I've got is a couple frags."

"Well shit. Enough to take out the garage?"

"Psi?"

"If you destroy several key support pillars, the building will collapse."

I found myself smirking at the idea of taking down a shitload of Innie vehicles.

"Psi, light up the weakest or most important support pillars for Agent Texas and myself."

"You've got it."

Almost immediately, pillars of Psi's choosing lit up green to signify a target, and I could only assume that Tex had the same view. Looking around, I could see six targets. I had only two frags, and I was almost positive that Tex didn't have four grenades. Glancing at the circling guards, a cunning smile began to grow on my face.

"'_Rado?_" Psi questioned nervously.

"_Don't worry, Psi… I've got this._"

Without alerting Tex to my idea, I wove my way stealthily around cars and towards the first guard I could see. The woman was about my height, and even while I was crouching I easily was high enough to see the grenade she had strapped to her belt. At one point she stopped and I had to slam my mouth shut to keep from cursing as I came to an ungraceful, but silent, stop. Fear shot through me as she whipped around, her face registering suspicion. I didn't know what she had heard, but clearly something had tipped her off. I didn't dare let a breath out, and my shoulders sagged with relief as she turned and scanned the area. I took the opportunity to gently unhook the grenade from her belt. It clicked as I removed it, and I waited for her to start yelling about intruders, but my luck held out; I was good. With three grenades, I made my way towards a pillar and breathed out a question to Tex in our private channel.

"Tex, are you good for explosives?"

"I could use one more, but it's not necessary."

"How is it not neces-"

"Just trust me, ok? Take the three pillars on the east side."

Psi could feel my apprehension growing by leaps and bounds, and directed me to where Tex had indicated. I placed each grenade I had in hard-to-spot places on the pillars and hailed Tex.

"When are we setting these off?"

"When I give the signal."

"Ok, but what's the sig-"

For the second time I found myself interrupted as an explosion ripped through the air. The garage was old fashioned and had stone pillars, and pieces of cement flew everywhere. I ducked down behind a car as numerous alarms screamed in the aftermath. _Shit! Well, that's a signal if I ever saw one._ One by one I primed the grenades, and as I found a car far enough away to hide behind, explosions once again rocked the building. The entire thing groaned in protest, and at the far north end, the roof began collapsing. Eyeing a door across the room to the west, I broke cover and sprinted towards it. Tex's cloaked silhouette spirited out through the entrance, and I triggered my thruster pack to throw me through the door just as the roof finished collapsing. I gasped in relief, aware that now dozens of armed Insurrectionists were running towards the now ruined garage, including the two Gauss hogs that were patrolling. Frowning, I took off towards what I thought was an entrance into the main facility, and what I saw both infuriated and shocked me. No less than fifteen Innies surrounded Tex, and all had their guns trained on her. I was about to rush forward and help, but Psi held me back.

"Think about the mission."

I nodded and watched from the shadows of the entrance, and just when I thought she was going to surrender, she triggered her invisibility and started doing what she did best: kicking ass. She was nothing more than a transparent blur as she weaved around her enemies, dispatching each with well-trained precision. I had no love for her, but I could easily see that she could beat even Carolina in training. Within two minutes, the Innies were either dead, groaning in pain, or knocked out cold. A Gauss blast flew towards where Tex had been, and I saw her fly past me.

"Move it, Colorado!"

Without hesitation, I turned and sprinted up the path in her wake, just as a Gauss round hit where I had been. Despite what Tex had said, my luck had been holding out nicely. I caught up to her as she rounded a corner, and we found ourselves face to face with about twenty Innies. Tex deactivated her invisibility first, and their guns turned to her, but when I had Psi get rid of mine, they became conflicted. My hands twitched over my SMGs, and Tex shot a look over to me before speaking, and she clearly meant for the Innies to hear her.

"Idea, Colorado. We're going to have a race. Final objective is worth twenty points; the grunts are worth one. Any special bodyguards are worth five. The loser obviously is going to die here. Deal?"

I smirked and cracked my neck.

"You are ON, Tex."

With that she grabbed her pistol and I unhooked my SMGs. After our initial volley, we were forced to take cover, but seven Innies were dead or injured, and that was good enough for me.

"Psi, is it possible for you to scan the building and locate Gray?"

My AI partner seemed to hesitate.

"Maybe. It would take me some time, but it might be easier to listen in on Insurrection soldiers to determine his location."

"Can you do both?"

Another hesitation.

"Yes, but I won't be able to devote enough thought to running your armor enhancements. You'll have to rely on yourself if you want me to find Gray."

"I understand; go hunting, Psi."

Almost immediately Innie transmissions started flooding my helmet. Unsurprisingly, most seemed to be about a breach in security, and I learned that reinforcements were coming up on our six.

"Hey! Tex! It's about to get a lot more crowded in here!"

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do about it?!"

"I want you to cover me!"

With that I sprang out and raced back the way we had came. Bullets flew by me but as I rounded a corner I ran into a whole different problem. A squad of five men was making their way up the entrance, and two of them had rocket launchers. Some part of me wondered if those were the same ones from Vortex, but I squelched the thought as two rockets came streaking towards me. Thinking quickly, I ran towards them and used my thruster pack to dodge to the side at the last second. The two rockets exploded harmlessly behind me, and shrapnel pecked at my armor, but thankfully none got through. Now I found myself sprinting towards the five Innies. Three of them crouched and pulled out shotguns, and the two in back readied their launchers. Two more rockets came streaking towards my position, and I twisted in a way that they went streaking by me. The explosion was a lot closer this time and I felt a few pinpricks at my skin, but with the adrenaline rushing through me they were barely noticeable. Whipping out my SMGs yet again, I fired a long burst at the line and brought down a man with a shotgun and one of the rocket users.

However I quickly strapped my SMGs back to my thighs as I got close enough for hand-to-hand combat. The remaining two shotgun users fired a blast at me, but I dropped beneath their sights and dodged both shots, landing an uppercut on the jaw of one of the men. The hit sent him spiraling to the floor, and before the other one could retaliate, I slammed my fist into his nose. The crunch I felt indicated a broken nose, and the man reeled back, screaming into his hand. I didn't have time to feel any satisfaction, as the guy with the rocket launcher had pulled out his sidearm. I was forced to take cover behind a support beam as shots slammed into it.

"Psi, give me a status!"

"I've got a relative area for him, just keep them busy so I can get you an exact location!"

I felt myself grow frustrated, but nevertheless I leapt around the pillar when there was a break in the fire and went to bull tackle the second launcher user. What I did not expect was to find one of his buddies armed with knives and ready for me. Hastily, I brought my gauntlets up to aid in blocking his slashes. I had decided against bringing my own knives, as I had no space for them. However I was seriously regretting the decision as he pushed me further back towards the corner. Thinking quickly, I dropped and spun my legs out to trip him, and he toppled over. Grabbing one of his knives, I slammed it into his neck and withdrew it, before throwing it at the man who was hastily trying to reload his rocket launcher. The knife caught him in the chest, and he fell over, his screams of pain echoing down the hallway. I sighed in relief and went to retrieve it, but felt a searing pain slam through the far right side of my chest, near my shoulder. I gasped and felt blood pooling from the new hole in my armor, and turned to see the man whose nose I had broken smirking at me, a smoking pistol in his hands. Narrowing my eyes in fury, I whipped out my sniper rifle, aimed, and fired. He was only about twenty feet away, but Wyoming and North's lessons had proved useful, as the bullet slammed into his heart. He dropped almost instantly, and I flipped my sniper into its place on my back. I stumbled towards the corner and found that Tex had cleaned up the resistance, and was pocketing a couple of grenades. She looked up at my approach, and I felt her gaze immediately turn to my newest wound.

"It's nothing, Tex, we need to get moving."

"Looks like a bit more than just 'nothing,' Colorado."

"It doesn't matter! We need to get to Gray! Psi, tell me you've found him."

"I have pinpointed a small area that he seems to be in; a secure room located in the back of the facility. From the radio chatter, it seems he has two bodyguards with him."

I unhooked my SMGs and reloaded them, before strapping them to my thighs again. A dark tone took hold of my voice.

"Well, let's go meet daddy dearest."

_**I am sorry for being so mean and leaving it on a cliffhanger xD However if I had written the whole mission in one chapter, it probably would have reached over 9,000 words, and that's a long read! The second half of the mission will be posted next week ;)**_


	11. Chapter 11: The Beast Within

_**It's that time of week again ;) I hope you're excited, because this was so much fun to write for you all xD I may or may not have been a little bit hyper, so please be patient if it gets a little bit crazy. Um, so I also accidentally uploaded this a day early, so, I'm a donut xD Anyways, I have a question for you faithful readers, as this will decide chapter 13. Do you want 'Rado to go on the space mission in Season 10, or would you rather have her stay home? I have something in mind that's action packed for if she does stay home, so just leave your answer in the comments, or PM me if you wish :)**_

_**Chapter 11**_

Tex and I were having an easy enough time cutting a swath of destruction through the base. They tried stopping us with doors, but we blew right through them. All the men they threw at us ended up dead or dying. At one point a Gauss hog managed to maneuver its way inside behind us, but the dumbass hadn't expected us to have a rocket launcher that Tex had "acquired" from one of our victims. My shoulder was pulsing painfully from where I had gotten shot, but I did my best to grin and bear it, particularly because we were coming up to where Gray was supposed to be. Psi's concern was palpable, and I sighed.

"Psi, I'm fine, I promise."

"'Rado, that bullet struck dangerously close to an artery."

"It didn't actually hit the artery though, did it? If it had, then I'd be in trouble. I'll get it patched up when we get back to the _Mother of Invention_."

Psi seemed unsatisfied, so I gave up trying to reassure him. The wound stung like a bitch, but it wasn't fatal. I remembered that Psi hadn't been around for my little incident at Exile, so he only had memories of what had happened. Being sniped had been my most dangerous injury thus far, and there just wasn't a way to accurately compare being sniped to getting shot by a magnum. Tex was busy fiddling with the wires of a door that the Innies had closed to slow us down, and my feet shifted impatiently. From what Psi could tell he was still in the same place, but how long would it be until he moved? How much more back up would he have by the time we got through the door? My heart rate was rising as my anxiety grew, and I felt Psi sending me calming thoughts. I took a deep breath, flinching a bit as my shoulder muscles moved, and looked over to Tex.

"How much longer?"

"I'd probably be done by now if you would quit asking me 'how much longer?'"

The door sliding open followed her tart tones.

"There! See what happens when you treat something right?"

I sighed in resignation.

"Ya, I suppose I do…"

My original suggestion had been to just blow the door open like all the others, but Tex had wanted to conserve ammunition. The sound of our pounding boots as we ran through the hallways was eerily the only one we could hear. The shouts from outside forces had long since died off, and the alarms had gone quiet. The whole situation was making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in foreboding. My wariness only grew with each corner we turned without opposition, and with each room we searched. This facility looked like it was big enough to house hundreds of people, so to see no one blocking our path was unnerving.

"I don't like this, Tex… they're making this far too easy for us."

"Nothing is ever too easy, Colorado. This situation is probably harder than it looks."

"Way to keep morale up."

"If you want someone to hold your hand, you should have just stayed on the ship."

I allowed a snort of amusement to makes its way out of me.

"Please, I'm sure Psi would hold my hand if I needed."

Psi appeared by my shoulder.

"'Rado, I am nothing more than an AI fragment; I do not have the substance to hold your hand."

I smiled and chuckled a bit.

"I'm well aware, Psi. I was just joking."

Realization flooded through him, and I felt him become mildly amused, but mostly exasperated. He still wasn't buying that I was ok, apparently. I could appreciate his concern, but it was like having North on the battlefield; he probably would've tried to force me to go back to the ship by now. Tex shook her head and I heard her emit an un-amused sigh. Smirking at her irritation, I followed her through the now open door, when my eye caught something as we walked by an office room. Files were left abandoned as if their owners had just got up and left. I turned to enter, and Tex turned to look at me.

"What the fuck are you doing?! Weren't you JUST saying how we had to get to Gray?"

I shot her a look and looked back into the room.

"Ya, no shit, but don't you think it's just a little bit important to see if we can dig up any future plans of theirs?"

"We don't have time, Colorado! Now get out here!"

Ignoring her, I stepped into the threshold cautiously. No one rose to meet me, and I felt my confidence grow enough to take a few more steps into the room. I felt Psi's curiosity permeating my own, and the first file I found was labeled "Operations: Seras Prime." I flipped open the file, and was mildly disappointed to find just normal logistics and status reports. However the next file caught my attention. It was titled "Freelancer: Profiles A-G," and looked to be stuffed full with information. Opening up, I flipped to multiple Freelancer profiles. Alaska, Arkansas, Alabama… every Freelancer through G. My section was just as full as the last ones, but had an added account of their "run-in" with me at Vortex. I smirked at the detailed of Gray's unfortunate amputation, but felt it wane as my fight with Arizona was described. I was still sore at having had to kill someone I once considered a friend.

Nevertheless, if there were files for Freelances A through G, there had to be files for everyone else as well. I grabbed the file and tucked it under my left, uninjured arm, but hesitation stopped me. There were at least ten filing cabinets in here, and none had any visible sorting order. For all I knew, Gray could be escaping. However, Psi's words came back to me from earlier. _Some sacrifices have to be made in war, and the Freelancers that aren't accompanying us are depending on us to keep their secrets safe. _The Innies had files on all of us, courtesy of Oregon. I couldn't allow that information to stay in enemy hands, no matter how much I wanted to take Gray down. Sighing, I opened up a private channel to Tex.

"Keep going, Tex. They've got files on all of us, and I'm going to take care of them."

"I'm already way ahead of you, jackass. Still no sign of any Innies; I'll keep you informed."

I snorted at her harsh tone, which was easily comparable to an angry Carolina, and looked to the first filing cabinet. After sorting through for five minutes (the cabinets each had three drawers) I hadn't found a file. In frustration, I looked at my arsenal. I had managed to refresh my two-grenade count, but beyond that I had nothing that could destroy the filing cabinet. I was not amused by the idea of using my explosives to dispose of any information, but as I continued to search cabinets, it seemed like I wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

Ten minutes later, I managed to find two more files; H-N, and O-U. If the trend were to be believed, I only needed one more file. Psi was beginning to grow apprehensive of our continued time spent in here, and my own heart was pounding. Something had to be wrong for this to be so easy. I wished I could calm my partner down, but I was finding it difficult to keep myself calm. When I found the final file, I couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief.

"Tex, I've found all of the files and," at this moment I spotted an abandoned messenger bag, "I actually have a way to transport them. What's your situation?"

"Remember when I told you this situation was harder than it looked? There are at least fifty guys standing between Gray's sanctuary and me. Get your ass over here and help me out."

"I thought you had a launcher?"

"One launcher isn't going to take down fifty guys you idiot!"

"Alright, calm your ass down; I'm on my way. Psi, direct me to her as quickly as possible."

At once, Psi's quiet guidance led me through the winding metal halls of the base, and our rhythm was so in tune with one another that I ended up sprinting along the route he gave me. The messenger back bumped loudly at my side, but the information I carried was too important for me to care about silence. Neither of us bothered with my armor enhancements either, at least not until I nearly barreled into Tex as she looked around a corner. She shoved me back at the last second and I stumbled backwards. Even with her helmet on I could feel the glare scorching me as she turned back to look around the corner. After another minute of observation, she cut her invisibility to appraise me.

"Ok, Colorado. Here's the plan. We're going to stealth in until we're close enough to drop some grenades at their feet. I'll open up with my launcher after the initial explosion, and then we'll finish the survivors off together. Ready?"

"For once, Agent Texas, I can actually agree to what you're saying."

"Whatever."

With that, Tex activated her invisibility unit, and Psi followed suit with my own. In a private channel, Tex began counting down. When she hit one and surged around the corner, I didn't hesitate to follow. I flipped out both of my grenades and primed them, chucking them down at the feet of the Innies before rocketing into an opposite hallway to listen to the inevitable explosion. As soon as it sounded, I saw Tex's silhouette appear, and even with the hazy view of her I had, I could tell she was holding a rocket launcher. Chaos had already ensued after we had dropped off our earlier grenades, and a rocket hitting their ranks and blowing apart more men threw them into further disarray. In this triangle of confusion, Tex and I made our moves. Both of us rushed forward as one entity and put our exceptional hand-to-hand skills to use. There were only about twenty guys left after Tex's rocket impacted, and together we made easy work of them. Neither of us gave an inch to the shell-shocked enemies around us, and as we lashed out with kicks and punches, the sounds of fighting eventually dimmed until there was nothing but Tex and I in the middle of groaning men and women.

Smirking, I had Psi cut my invisibility and I looked at Tex.

"Not bad… for a kiss-ass."

"Not too bad yourself… for a stubborn bitch."

Rolling my eyes, I jogged over to the door where Gray supposedly was. Clearly it was built to withstand the test of time and missile. The component was made from a metal I hadn't seen before, and even our fighting had done nothing more than stain it with blood. Raising an eyebrow, I looked over the controls, hissing at how complicated they were.

"So… do you regret not bringing York yet?"

"Move over."

As Tex fiddled with the lock, I hailed Psi.

"_So is he still in there?_"

"_I have discovered no transmissions that suggest he has moved._"

To both Psi's surprise and my own, I found myself sighing shakily.

"_I can't help but think something is waiting for us in there. These grunts out here just bought him time. But time to do what?_" I mulled the facts over slowly. "_You said he has two bodyguards?_"

"_That is correct. It seems a pretty lax number when compared to the capabilities of you and Agent Texas._"

"_No kidding…_"

Finally, Tex gave an annoyed grumble and slammed her fist into the door controls. With the controls rendered useless, I turned to her, infuriated.

"What the hell, Tex?! How do you expect us to get in the door now?!"

She tilted her heads towards the door as her invisibility stole her from view, and Psi quickly followed suit, just as the door opened. Inside was General Gray himself, and he was flanked by a man and a woman wearing ODST-looking armor. It looked state-of-the-art, and I realized that Carolina had encountered people just like this on our mission to retrieve the Sarcophagus and the briefcase. Wariness swept through me, and I felt Psi pick up on my misgiving feelings. According to Carolina, they were as much of a match in hand-to-hand as Maine was, and had given her a run for her money (though she had played her encounter with them off as nothing but a mere nuisance). Gray hand his hands clasped on his desk as he looked forward out of the door. One hand was clearly flesh and bone, but the other was the standard prosthetic that amputees in hospitals were offered. It was a fully functional hand pretty much, just with a lot more metal. His cunning green eyes stared out into the hallway, and as he swept his gaze from one side of the door to the other, I could swear he was staring right through me as a sardonic smile crept across his lips.

"You might as well give up the act, ladies. I know you're there."

My eyes narrowed, and I requested Psi to power off my invisibility. His shock was evident.

"_'Rado, are you sure?_"

"_He already knows we're here, Psi, and I want him to look into my eyes when I kill him. I want him to know just how much I hate him._"

He hesitated again.

"_'Rado… I don't know if that's healthy for your… fragile… state of mind._"

"_Fragile my ass. Cut the invisibility, Psi, and keep an eye on my motion tracker. I don't want to see anyone flanking us._"

"_If you say so, 'Rado._"

A flash of annoyance went through me at his unsure tone, but nevertheless he respected my wishes and cut the invisibility. I walked in front of the door and stood there, hands hovering over my SMGs.

"It's been a while, Gray. Had I known your son was one of my 'teammates,' I would have visited you sooner."

"Of that I had no doubt, Miss. Alexander. Which is why I requested the extra security."

I felt my teeth grit at the use of my actual last name.

"Shut up. The only things you know about me are down on paper."

"On the contrary, most of my information about your particular breed of menace was garnered from very reliable sources, namely reports acquired from your squad mates, especially Mr. Gunny."

My heart rate rose at the mention of Aaron, and as soon as that started, Psi began doing everything in his power to calm me down. Digging through my head held advantages for Psi; he knew exactly how sloppy I could be when my emotions got the best of me; and how dangerous as well. My breathing became sticky, and my voice dripped out like acid.

"Leave Aaron out of this. I know he loved me until his dying breath."

"Oh he may have loved you- why else would you take a bullet for someone?- but his notes mentioned his concern for your emotional ties to your violent episodes, and your lack of control."

I began walking forward, my feet slamming on the floor hard enough to dent it slightly.

"Shut up."

"Your CO recommended that you be removed from active duty due to concerns about your mental health. After the incident with Colonel Ferris- whom, might I add, was a very dear friend of mine- he recommended that you be discharged immediately, citing your past instances of brutality and insubordination. And that's when Project Freelancer picked you up. Face it, Miss Alexander. You are nothing but canon fodder for the UNSC. No one cares what happens to you."

All the memories I kept hidden and buried were all I could think about, and I saw the two armored bodyguards move into combat stances as I drew closer. As I dropped the messenger bag to the floor to make Tex came into view beside me.

"Think of North, Colorado… he'd believe in your ability to keep calm and stay in control."

I breathed out heavily.

"He doesn't deserve to be killed in a controlled way, Tex. He deserves to die the same way Ferris did."

"Save your anger for the gym. We could even put his face on targets in the shooting range."

"_'Rado, please listen to Tex… just let go of everything; nothing can hold you back. You are Agent Colorado of Project Freelancer right now, not Serena Alexander._"

"_Changing the name doesn't change the monster._"

With a yell of fury I rushed forward, ignoring Tex's orders to stay back and Psi's loud protests in my head. The woman bodyguard rushed forward to meet me, threw a hook that caught me in the left shoulder, and I retaliated by slamming my own fist into the side of her head. As she slammed into the wall, I saw Tex rush the second bodyguard. Gray did nothing; instead he merely clasped his hands in an amused fashion as he watched the battle. I snarled in fury and drew out my SMG to fire a quick burst at him. However a weight landed on me from the left and knocked the SMG from my hands. The space in the room was only around thirty by twenty feet, so I decided to take my fight out to the hallway. Drawing my legs beneath me, I flung my attacker out into the hallway and leapt up to pursue. Now that I had a clear look, I could see a symbol on her chest; a white, horizontal gradient, with a maroon colored, strange looking symbol that reminded me of Chinese or Japanese writing. However all thoughts of her identification vanished as we charged each other. Both of us were really well matched, but each blow I made held more power than necessary and eventually I began pushing her back. However when she managed to land a punch on my bullet wound, I couldn't help the grunt of pain that escaped me. With this in mind, she began to pummel my right side as much as she could when she could bypass my defense.

Each hit she landed caused me to falter a bit, but the rage I was feeling never dimmed. Finally, I dropped and swung my legs. Before she even hit the ground, I had pulled out my remaining SMG and let out a long burst into her chest, more bullets than was necessary. When I as certain she was dead, I looked to see that Tex had all but finished off the poor guy she had beaten into the floor, and Gray actually looked concerned for once in his life. Smirking darkly, I walked past where Tex was finishing off her mark. Slowly, and deliberately, I unloaded the spent clip from my SMG and slammed in a new one. Psi was still trying to calm me down.

"_'Rado, you have to get a hold of yourself! This isn't going to bring Blake back, nor will it bring Aaron back!_"

I ignored him, continuing my deathly march towards Gray.

"_What would North think about what you're doing?!_"

That stopped me. At least for a second.

"_He would understand._"

"_No, he wouldn't! He wouldn't understand why you let dead people rule your decisions! He would expect you to take the high road and be the strong woman he fell for!_"

"_How would you know what North wants, Psi?_"

"_Because,_" he began slowly, "_I know what you know. And you know, deep down, that I'm right._"

And that is what truly halted me. My gun was pointed at Gray, and my finger was twitching by the trigger, but I heaved a shaky sigh and lowered it. I felt a presence beside me as Tex walked up, and I felt her shoot me a searching look. Psi was clearly relieved.

"_See? I knew you could get yourself until control._"

"_Only because you were here, Psi._"

"_Keep thinking that. I'm just a voice of reason, not your willpower._"

I couldn't bring myself to laugh at his tart tone, instead I contended myself with strapping my SMG to my side and walking towards Gray. The fear had been joined by curiosity now, and I would bet everything he was wondering how he wasn't dead yet. Honestly, I was wondering why he was still alive myself. Nevertheless, I set my palms face down on the table and leaned across it so I could be in his face.

"Well, General, I think we can both agree that it is under extraordinary circumstances that you're still alive."

"Yes. Quite extraordinary that you managed to keep your temper from brutalizing me; or should I thank Psi instead?"

I found myself in a rare moment of astonishment, as Psi himself appeared to respond.

"You should be thanking Agent Colorado for keeping you alive, though you don't deserve it. Next time you make her mad I'm going to just encourage her to do whatever she wants. Let me say, I've seen what ideas she's had for you, and they aren't pretty, or painless for that matter."

I smirked beneath my helmet as Gray's once self-assured sneer waned a bit. He may not want to show up, but he was scared of what I could, and most certainly would, do to him. With Psi finished, I took the opportunity to jump in.

"Here's what we want, Gray. I want all of the files you have on Project Freelancer. If I think you're keeping anything from me, I'll shoot you. If you try to hide anything from me, Psi will alert me, and I'll still shoot you. Don't tell me anything at all, and I'll just blow your kneecaps out and we can drag you to the file room. Your son certainly knows the agony of having a couple of busted-ass kneecaps. Maybe you two can discuss it sometime."

At the mention of his son, I saw Gray truly angry for the fist time.

"If you have done ANYTHING to my son-"

I chuckled a bit.

"Why do you think I mentioned the kneecaps? You should be thanking Agent Texas that he even got medical treatment. I was content to let him sleep in his own blood."

Almost immediately, Gray raised his fist and slammed it across the side of my visor. He didn't have anywhere near the strength to send me flying, but I had felt it.

"Now really, was that called for? After all, Chris was probably in a lot less pain than the serum you let Will use on me. Besides, he wasn't very forthcoming with information. I'll tell you what; I'll make you a deal. You give me everything you have on Freelancer, and I will allow your son to live. One transmission and I could end his life whenever I want. I'm fairly certain one of my more aggressive friends is guarding him anyway."

Actually I was almost positive that Wyoming had been slated for guard duty next, and the only thing he could kill anyone with on the ship at the moment was his knock knock jokes. They'd gotten more numerous once Gamma had been implanted.

"Fine I'll help just… please don't hurt my son."

Gray's pleading tone surprised me; I'd always thought he was a heartless bastard. I nodded and stood aside. He stood and began walking back the way we had come. I picked up my newly acquired messenger back and followed. Tex's voice flooded my private channel.

"We're supposed to get rid of him, not stall. We're on a time limit here."

"Chill out, I've got this."

I switched off my channel.

"Gray, call your men off and tell them that the threat has been dealt with. Try to call in back up and I'll call up to the _Invention_ and have your son dealt with."

He didn't bother responding as he agreed to my wishes and called his men off. As we continued walking, Psi hailed me.

"_I've never felt you so… content around Gray before._"

"_Well I've won, and he's lost. We're going to get the files, bring them back, and Mac this base off of the face of Seras Prime. Of course I'll shoot Gray before that, but I suppose the weapons crew up top can have some fun too._"

"_Are you really going to spare Oregon?_"

"_What, are you kidding me? Hell no._"

He was silent for a second.

"_Sometimes there are worse fates than death, Agent Colorado._"

With that, Psi went quiet, leaving me to think. And it was only when I realized everything I had been forced to live through that I came to the conclusion that he may just be right. That didn't stop me from accepting the files that Gray passed to me. A few of them I was tempted to read for curiosity's sake, but only one I really flipped open to the first file: AI Experimentation. The file was about Psi and my various experiences with him, and I quickly grew bored. The information stored here was probably not my level of expertise anyway. I stowed all of it in my bag and drew my SMG.

"Well Gray, thank you for the information, but I hope you brought your wallet, because the rent in Hell is paid in advance."

A quick burst from my SMG and the sound of Gray's body hitting the floor left the file room silent. At least until I started laughing. Finally, after all of the anger, and all of the hopes of revenge, Gray was finally dead. For once I felt… kind of free. I mean, it didn't change everything that had happened to me already, but killing a top Innie official made me feel that much better. Psi was understandably concerned for my sudden amusement, but with a little digging, I'm sure he'd find my reason for celebrating.

"Well? Let's get the hell out of here. Someone is going to come and investigate sooner or later."

I nodded and heaved the pack over my uninjured left shoulder. Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, the wound really hurt like a bitch.

"_Mother of Invention_? This is Agent Colorado; we have eliminated the target and secured Insurrectionist information regarding project Freelancer. We wiill radio for pick-up when we are thirty minutes from the extraction point."

"Copy that, Agent Colorado."

With the radio silenced, the area quickly fell deathly silent. Before we neared the entrance, both Tex and I triggered our invisibility units and quickly and quietly made for our extraction point. As we neared the anti aircraft guns, I flipped up the detonator I still had in my pack.

"Ready?"

"Just do it."

Smirking, I pushed the button and watched as the guns blew up into charred pieces of ruined metal. We continued our way along, and I couldn't help but hum a little tune. To my delight, our ride was already waiting for us.

"Strap in, ladies. The Director has requested your presence back on the ship immediately. He wants to hear if your mission was as successful as it seems."

_**So how's that? :D Suck it, Gray! Next chapter will jump right into season 10; at least the Freelancer part of it. Will Colorado ever get to meet our favorite Reds and Blues? Well, I'm thinking on it xD If she does it's going to be a complicated job working her into the plot where I want, haha**_


	12. Chapter 12: Back to Routine

_**Oh my gosh… is this… is this really an honest to god new chapter you're seeing? ;) You bet it is! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my Mac is, for the moment, functioning, and I will be able to start updating again!**_

_**Chapter 12**_

The ceremony for our defeat over Gray was very short-lived. In fact we got maybe a verbal pat on the back from the Director, even with the files I presented him. Tex stayed behind to talk with him about something (not that I was surprised), which left me free to go and get myself checked out in the infirmary. Needless to say, the medic was not so surprised to see me, and he wasn't entirely happy either. Between my constant rule breaking when I was supposed to relax, and the injuries I seemed to accumulate, I was constantly increasing his workload. Nevertheless, he treated the wound, cautioned me against strenuous activity, and sent me on my way. As I passed the recovery room, I could see that Chris was still present, but he seemed to be sleeping, and Maine was keeping watch, much to my surprise. I figured Wyoming would have switched off with him by now. Once I reequipped my armor, I went over to the two.

"Hey, Maine, do you want to get some rest? I can take over from here."

The larger Freelancer nodded gratefully, and went off towards the barracks, leaving me with Chris. I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him, so I watched him the whole time. Well, at least until the door opened and York was wheeled into recovery. I was surprised and started towards him, but hesitated. Any slack in duty could cost me, and though Chris was temporarily out of commission, I was positive that the medics had replaced his kneecaps. In three steps he could be a thorn in my side. However, with Psi, I felt much more secure, and walked over beside York. I tapped the doctor that had brought him in.

"What's wrong with York?"

"Nothing at all; he just got implanted with his AI. I believe the Counselor called him Delta? In any case, York should be awake within the next few hours."

"Thanks."

The doctor nodded and walked out before running straight into Carolina, and after a brief exchange, she joined me in the recovery room. She nodded to me and took a seat next to York.

"How is he?"

I smiled wryly.

"Well he just got in here, so for the moment, he's fine."

"I meant Oregon."

I scowled, but took off my helmet nonetheless for the conversation at hand.

"He's fine too, not that I care. One tends to stop caring when the person in question tries to kill you."

"Has the Director decided what to do with him?"

"No. I think he's just a waste of space."

Carolina looked over at York before abruptly switching the subject.

"Maine is due for implantation next."

This didn't surprise me in the least.

"When?"

She shrugged and tossed a look over my shoulder, where Chris was resting.

"Soon I'd imagine; probably sometime in the next few days."

A groan cut off my response, and we turned to see Oregon stirring. I felt the heat rise to my face and turned away, but Carolina kept staring at him. She obviously didn't consider him a threat, and was more amused than anything. Looking at her, I watched as her eyes narrowed, and her face fell into a warning frown. Against my better judgment, I turned around. Chris was staring at us with wide, and, understandably, nervous, eyes. I caught his eye, and he almost immediately noticed the minimal movements of me favoring my right arm. We were trained to notice things like this. Dots connected for him and now a look of horror appeared.

"Where-where did you get that injury?"

I could feel the temperature drop as I stared back at him.

"Where do you think?"

He had no answer for that, and instead his gaze grew unfocused as he stared, disbelievingly at his sheets. I turned away from him and back to Carolina.

"So, who is Maine getting?"

"Sigma. He was going to be mine, but Maine needs him more than I do. Without the ability to communicate, he'd be at a disadvantage in the field."

I nodded, glad that I already had Psi. Carolina gave me a searching look.

"I've got guard duty while I'm here with York; go and find North. I'm sure you're anxious to talk to him."

Relief flooded through me.

"Thanks, Carolina. I'll be back to take over in a couple hours. Wasn't Wyoming supposed to take over?"

"Are you kidding? We're not cruel enough to torture Oregon with knock knock jokes all day. Having his kneecaps blown out again would probably be less painful."

I snorted in amusement and waved as I left, my helmet tucked under my arm. By now it would be nine at night on Seras Prime, and the crew was winding down for the night. However if I knew South, and I liked to think that I did, she would have dragged her brother to the training room while Carolina wasn't using it. Walking through the halls of the _Mother of Invention_ was almost like walking through that bunker. Metal ceilings, metal walls, and the occasional door. The closer I got to the training room, the more puzzled I got. What was there for me to focus on now? For the moment, Freelancer seemed to have all of their problems locked up. Gray was dead; Chris was in custody… everything was going to be smooth sailing for a little while. I shook my head as I arrived at the observation room, deciding that the problem was better left for another day.

As I had expected, South and North were both in the training room, and South had apparently chosen a team-oriented exercise. She and North were making quick work of the multiple green plates floating around them. Even though it had been over a year since I joined the project, it still amazed me sometimes how in tune they were with each other. Sometimes it made me a little bit jealous. Today, however, it made me smile as I watched North kick some major ass out on the field. As the training session neared its end, I went to the door and opened it, my helmet tucked under my arm.

"Honey, I'm home!" I exclaimed jokingly.

As soon as the last target fell (all of two seconds later), North immediately turned and jogged towards me.

"So much for being home before dinner."

South also came over and crossed her arms before leaning on the doorway. Both twins had removed their helmets, and South looked surprisingly curious, which reflected in her voice as she greeted me as well.

"So? Did you get the bastard?"

I nodded and smiled a little.

"Gray won't be a problem anymore."

She nodded and walked out, but not before leaving us with a biting remark.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

Ignoring her sudden change in mood, I looked at North, who was giving his sister a concerned look. I tapped his shoulder and gave him a lazy smile, and he gradually returned the favor before wrapping his strong arms around me and bringing me in for a sweet kiss.

"You said you'd be home for dinner."

"Dinnertime is a relative measurement, my dear North Dakota."

"You were worrying me."  
I frowned, touched at his concern, but also perturbed that he didn't have more faith in my abilities.

"Hey, I'm in the top ten; I'm a general badass." Probably best not to mention my newest gunshot wound. "No need to worry so much."

"It's Gray; of course I'm going to worry, and not just about what he could've done to you, but what you could do to yourself."

"Oh no, don't go all philosophical on me now; I just got back and I'm tired; my room?"

He gave me a concerned look, but nodded anyways as I led him off to my room. I sighed in relief and started shedding my armor as soon as the door closed. It was going to be fantastic to just lie down and sleep. As I ditched my under armor, North caught sight of the bandages around the wound.

"What happened, 'Rado?!"

Hissing silently at my carelessness, I gently pulled a t-shirt and sweats on before I answered him.

"My fault. I didn't think that a guy with a broken face would get back up and retaliate. Got me from behind with a magnum, but like I told Psi, I'll live."

"Psi?"

"How can I help, North?"

"How close to the artery was 'Rado's injury?"

"North, I-"

"Her injury was about two and a half inches away from severing a major artery."

I glared at Psi's projection.

"Thanks for helping to ease his worry, Psi," I said tartly.

He signed off without replying, but I could feel an air of apology from him.

North's eyes grew slightly wide.

"Christ, 'Rado. You came close to bleeding out; why didn't you just retreat for medical aid?"

I scoffed and took a place on the bed.

If we didn't get Gray there and then, he would've escaped, and we wouldn't have found him until he surfaced. Besides, Psi kept me going. I couldn't quit to help myself, not with all of you on the line."

"What are you talking about?"

"I found files of every Freelancer on the ship there, North. If I had let Gray lived, he would've used the information to hurt everyone."

He looked sympathetic as he sat down beside me.

"You don't have to protect everyone, 'Rado. We can handle whatever the Innies throw at us."

"So can I, and if I had had to die to protect everyone- especially you- I would have."

"Don't make that promise. If you died protecting me, I'd feel guilty for the rest of my life."

I leaned into him and smirked slightly.

"Well I'd feel the same way. So let's make a promise NOT to die, ok?"

North chuckled.

"Well I'll see what I can do. There are no guarantees in this line of work."

Damn, what a way to throw my head back into reality. There really weren't any guarantees. As a Freelancer, each mission- Hell, every day- could be my last. However I had to enjoy the little things in life, especially stolen moments with North and the rest of our little team. I felt a yawn creep up on me and crawled over to bury myself underneath my blanket. North gave me a puzzled look.

"What are you waiting for, Agent Dakota? You're more than welcome to join me."

He didn't need another invitation, and curled up with me. Exhausted, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. No dreams disturbed me, and the next morning I actually felt fairly rejuvenated. Well, until I heard about the routine for the day. Breakfast, and then a training bout with South. As if that wasn't bad enough already, I was also scheduled to fight Tex in hand-to hand combat before dinner, though I'd be teaming up with Carolina for that one. North was giving me an amused grin at my forlorn reaction by the time he finished.

"Hey, don't feel so bad. It could be worse; you could be fighting Maine in hand-hand combat instead of South with weapons training." He frowned as he finished. "The Director should have given you time for your wound to heal up though. If you're not careful, you'll just end up tearing it open again."

There was no way to counter that point; I was lethal as hell when I had my hands on a gun, but lacked the skill in hand-to-hand. Psi had done wonders to help me improve, but I couldn't rely on him all of the time. Yawning, I quickly dressed in my under armor and began strapping on my armor.

"There's no time for rest in war, North. There's always going to be more Innies to fight; we need to be ready at all times."

"Even space soldiers need downtime, 'Rado."

"Not me; I'm always ready for the fight. If you expect the worst to happen, you're better prepared for it."

He shot me an uncertain look and slipped his helmet on. After I finished putting on all of my armor, we made our way over to the mess hall. South was already present and tearing into an omelet, while Wyoming looked like he had just woken up, a cup of tea in his hands. Maine was stoic as usual, though he had a tray in front of him. He had already finished breakfast. Carolina was busy glaring over at Tex, who seemed not to notice as she chatted up some of the personnel. I groaned, truthfully nervous of the beating I was going to receive later. Having seen, but never experienced, Tex beating the shit out of three of the top Freelancers AND a shitload of Innies, I would have had to be truly crazy not to be a bit nervous. As I scooped up my own omelet for a quick breakfast, I saw York enter the mess hall. Smirking, I saw his own AI floating by his shoulder. The little guy was green, and had some fairly old fashion armor on. As I took my seat, York joined us and everyone immediately swapped his or her attention to him. York seemed to enjoy the spotlight and gave us all- Carolina in particular- a lazy smile.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet Delta."

I crossed my hands on the table.

"Nice to meet you, Delta. Welcome to the team."

"Thank you, Agent Colorado. It is a pleasure to meet you as well."

He talked almost mechanically; not near as candid as Psi did.

North looked at York curiously.

"What's his attribute, York?"

"Delta here is the most logical guy I've ever met.

"So, logic. Way to beat around the bush."

York shot a warning look at South as her annoyed tones cut through the amicable atmosphere. Almost immediately though, York brought the mood back to a more relaxed feel.

"Tonight, D and I are going to team up on some holographic locks as a test in addition to seeing if my combat efficiency had improved."

"By my calculations, your infiltration efficiency and safety will increase by at least forty percent."

"Safety? Come on, D, I'm not that bad."

I snorted in amusement as I finished up my food.

"Well I'll leave you two to bond; I've got a match in the training room to get to. Just watch the headaches York; they can be brutal at first."

Wyoming looked up at me, incredulous.

"So you warn him and not me? You wound me my dear, you really do."

I waved off his comment and began to make for the training room. North promised to join me after he had finished breakfast, and I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before departing. I could hear South snort in disdain, and yet again found myself wondering what her problem was. She couldn't be jealous of North spending more time with me, could she? South hadn't even seemed to care when her brother was lying injured. In fact ever since she had started decreasing in ranks she had gotten more and more sour. Part of me hoped that she would get over her lust for rank- as hypocritical as that sounded- while part of me wanted to knock her down further just to show her up. The training room was empty when I arrived, and as South was still eating, I decided to warm up with some hand-to-hand exercises. The green plates floating around gave me the signal to begin, and one by one I took each down neatly and efficiently. Carolina still had the record for most efficient run, but I felt like I was improving with each try. Abruptly, the targets cut off.

"If you're done wasting my time," South's sneering voice began, "I'd like to get this over with. I have more important things to do."

Dropping my stance, I crossed my arms and went for a barb that I knew would piss South off further.

"What important thing does number eight need to do on the ship, South?"

At that, she stalked up and got right in my face, however I refused to back down.

"Funny, I'd expect something smarter coming from you, Number Nine."

I smirked leaned forward a bit.

"Nine is just one place behind eight, and don't you forget it."

I turned away just as FILSS began "helpfully" explaining the rules for the familiar exercise. No lethal rounds were being used, and the score was the best of five. Any weapons were allowed, however one rule in particular was for me.

"Agent Colorado, the Director has requested to see your combat skills without the aid of your partner AI."

Surprise went across my face, and I knew that Psi was surprised as well. Wasn't he always pushing teamwork with our AIs? Nevertheless, I apologized mentally to Psi for having to leave him out and took a position as blocks began to rise from the floor. They had long since been repaired after Tex's debut. Twirling my SMGs in my fingers, I tried to think of what weapons South would pick. Though she seemed to prefer hand-to-hand, South had demonstrated admirable expertise with pretty much any and all weapons, except for the SMG. That was my territory, and it was what gave me confidence. In close quarters, I expected her to go with the Battle rifle or the shotgun. Probably both, actually. With this thought in mind, I jogged back to the descending table and grabbed a shotgun and a couple of paint grenades, slinging the gun on my back, and strapping the grenades on my belt. Just as I arrived back at my starting point, the bell sounded to start. The arena of pillars was much smaller than my bout with North; it was only a six by six square. South and I would have no problems eventually finding each other. I expected the match to be over quite quickly.

What I did NOT expect was for South to tackle me when I entered the middle of the arena and start trying to beat my helmet in. I thought we were supposed to be using paint weapons, after all! Gritting my teeth, I drew my legs beneath me and flung her off so she hit a pillar. I leapt up right after and drew my SMG to fire a long burst at South. However she wasn't one of the top agents for nothing, and skillfully evaded my attempts to finish her off. Dropping the spent clip on the ground, I quickly reloaded it and charged after South. I leapt on the pillar and jumped down where South had gone, but she was nowhere to be found. Puzzled, I ducked low and rolled over to the neighboring pillar to my right, straining to hear some hint of where she was. Part of me knew my efforts would be futile; South was an infiltration specialist for a reason. She could be quiet when she wanted to, and unfortunately she was choosing to be silent as the grave.

A pang in me realized how much I depended on Psi to aid me regarding combat awareness. It felt alien now to not have him analyzing every variable and feeding me the information I needed. Quite frankly, it was disturbing that my own skills weren't as sharp now without Psi watching my back. However I shook the worrying thoughts away and slammed my mental focus onto the task at hand: find South, and take her down.

Finding her wasn't so difficult though, considering she leapt out of cover and fired a burst at me from her battle rifle. I ducked and rolled, and fired a quick burst of my own weapon. Paint splattered the floor near her, and she fired off another quick burst, with one bullet catching me on the wrist as I rolled behind another pillar. _Shit!_ I sighed and tried to slam the paint off, but of course it didn't really budge. _At least it wasn't my elbow. Then I'd be in real trouble._ Had she managed to actually tag one of my more important joints, this match would probably be over by now. I needed every possible advantage in order to beat her. Fighting the urge to call on Psi, I let myself peek around the corner. The lane was clear, and there was no sign of South. She had to be toying with me now. Normally in training simulations, South would rush head on into the fray, thinking on the fly. This new cat and mouse game was more her trying to fuck with me than anything. And if she was confident enough to try and mess with my head, she could be prone to making arrogant decisions.

A plan began formulating in my head. Maybe if I pissed her off enough to have her make a mistake. Otherwise if I fed her ego enough I was sure she'd slip up. Looking around, I called out, "so, South, getting tired of these prissy tactics, yet? I expected more from number eight."

No response. I didn't expect one right away.

"Although maybe I shouldn't be surprised. A lot about you has changed. Who knew you could be such a bitch to your own brother?"

I stopped moving. I thought I heard a sharp intake of breath, but I couldn't be sure. More cautious than ever, I peeked around the corner. Clear. Narrowing my eyes I looked around my perimeter cautiously.

"Come on, South! Are you jealous of him and I? Is that it? Is that why you've been taking every chance to rain on our parade?"

That was what truly snapped her. I heard an angry yell and turned to my left to see South charge out of cover with her shotgun. Alarmed, I scrambled up and raised my SMGs, firing unwaveringly towards her. She weaved expertly between pillars; the rough stone eating my paint rounds. However I saw one bullet catch her in the thigh, and she tumbled into cover. Ejecting my spent clips, I slammed in two new fresh ones and cautiously approached her previous position. Leaping on the pillar, I looked down at South's struggling form, and unloaded a quick burst at her helmet.

"Training exercise, complete. Victory goes to Agent Colorado."

I smirked and walked away as the water freed South from her pink prison. North met me at the door, and I could tell trouble was brewing judging from the look on his face.

"Was that necessary to taunt South like that?"

I took my helmet off and raised an eyebrow, puzzled at his inquiry.

"It's psychological warfare. I was at a disadvantage and needed to even the odds. You know we were taught that."

I couldn't understand what his problem was. South couldn't keep control of herself, and I came out on top because of it. I hadn't done anything wrong in the least. Regardless, the disappointed look in North's eyes cowed me slightly, but not enough for me to change my tune.

"It's not as if she's been very friendly to you or me lately anyway, North," I pointed out, still trying to convince him. He sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe not, but that's not an excuse to beat her down mentally like that. She's your teammate, not an enemy. I'll catch up with you later when you fight Tex."

He turned around and walked down the hallway, and South pushed her way past me, shooting a glare at me with anger, and an emotion I couldn't read, in her eyes. For the first time in a long time, I felt dumbfounded. However it was a temporary feeling, and I soon walked off to the locker room myself to get on with the rest of the days activities.

_**So, not bad for a ridiculously long wait I hope. Sorry again!**_


	13. Chapter 13: Clash of the Titans

_**So, another chapter xD it's taking longer than I thought to get into the space mission; I hope you all don't mind too much, hehe. Anyways, 'Rado personally witnessed Tex kick some major tail on a mission, and on the ship. How will she fair with Agent Carolina on her side against Tex now? Well, read on to find out! And yes, I will be having 'Rado stay home during the space mission ;) I've got something much more fun planned.**_

_**Chapter 13**_

The locker room held a frosty atmosphere as I geared up for my final fight of the day against Texas. Carolina and I had wasted no time; after lunch we had gone straight to the gym to practice hand-to-hand techniques together, and now we were both preparing for what would probably end up being the beating of our lives. Carolina was tense and quiet, and I didn't even bother trying to talk to her. I had a feeling that if I tried to discuss anything she'd snap like a twig from the amount of tension she had coiled inside of her. I suppose I could understand that. Tex had beat back everyone who had faced her, and taken the leader board by storm. Carolina being bumped down to number two? In Carolina's mind, that was probably equal to the Covvies glassing a planet. And that would just not do for her. Sometimes I wondered if York was right to be concerned about her obsession with the bored. Being driven was by no means a bad thing, but Carolina seemed to almost take ambition to extreme new heights. Looking at her now, I could see why York thought she needed to slow down. Her green eyes were flashing with determination, almost bordering on a manic urge to beat Tex down. Ignoring the urge to reassure her, I slipped on my helmet and moved to leave the locker room. Carolina grabbed my arm.

"Nothing less than victory today, Colorado."

Her cold tone surprised me, and I managed to nod before slipping out of her grasp and escaping the suddenly thick air of the locker room. Psi appeared next to my face.

"Carolina seems rather intense today," he observed casually.

"It's her spot on that damn board, Psi. She wants it back- badly. I don't think there's a limit to what she'll do to get it back."

"Desperation can lead to dangerous methods," he observed knowingly.

I raised my eyebrow and smirked as I walked towards the training room.

"Insinuating something, Psi?"

"Nothing you don't already know yourself, 'Rado."

I laughed and shook my head.

"Hey, nothing wrong with using dangerous means to accomplish an end for the greater good."

"I don't think that's what Carolina's intention is, 'Rado," he said in a troubled tone.

I sighed and shook my head.

"No, Psi, I don't think that's her intention either."

The Director had to know that pitting Tex and Carolina together wouldn't end well. Yet he still insisted on making them go head to head with that board. I was beginning to wonder what was most important to the Director in this project; the competition between his agents, or the actual war we were fighting. Psi broke through my quiet thoughts.

"Are YOU ok, 'Rado?" He asked in concern.

I raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Of course. Gray is dead, Oregon is in custody, Arizona is dead… there's really nothing for me to be upset about." I thought the question over. "Why do you ask, Psi?"

"You just seem… extremely happy. More content than normal."

"Why in the world does THAT concern you?" I asked in surprise. You'd think my being happy would be something to throw a party over.

"It just seems… temporary. Like the saying pride go'eth before the fall."

I scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.

"Please. I have every reason to be happy. I have a boyfriend that loves me, no Innies are out to get me, and I'm one of the most kickass soldiers in the history of military projects. The most I have to worry about is getting killed in combat. No big deal."

No big deal indeed. Still, I hated having Psi fuss over me. I didn't need people getting distracted from the important tasks at hand because of me. Rolling my shoulders, I turned as footsteps came rushing towards me. North was jogging down the hallway, his face nervous and excited.

"Hey, 'Rado, I just heard from the Director that I'm next in line after Maine to get an AI. I don't when, but I thought I'd share the news."

Delight surged through me, as well as a hell of a lot of nerves. Nothing had gone wrong with anyone yet in the implantation process, but there was always the risk.

"That's great, North. Do you know who it is yet?"

I could feel Psi's curiosity permeating my own. Carolina had already told us that Sigma was going to Maine. However, another issue occurred to me as North started speaking.

"No clue, but I hope I get a good partner. You and Psi seem close now."

I nodded and looked at his little hologram.

"We do make a good team. I felt blind without him on the field this morning. Made me realize how much I depend on him to keep me informed."

"You're a good partner too, 'Rado. Dangerous tendencies and all," Psi added wryly.

"We'll always be a good team," I said with fond smile. However, I frowned and turned to North. "Is South getting an AI too?"

North shook his head.

"If she is, she hasn't told me. South wasn't on the bridge when the Director told me."

Well, that certainly wasn't a good sign. South already seemed to believe that the Director favored her twin over her. To hear that he was getting an AI before her? Well, it wouldn't be a pretty scene. I was glad the Freelancers had been given their own quarters. If I was still bunking with South I doubted I would have been able to get any sleep for a week. Looking at North, I could see uneasiness over telling his sister as well. Whether she found out from him or not, it was bound to be an ugly scene. He affirmed as much.

"I'll tell South myself while we're watching your match against Tex. Hopefully watching you all will calm her down a bit."

I seriously doubted this, but shrugged.

"Well, good luck with that, North."

He gave me a wry smile.

"I think you'll need more luck than me," he said, nodding towards Carolina and Tex as they approached the training room door. I sighed and put my helmet on, mentally preparing myself for the ass kicking of a lifetime. I wasn't sure I was the one who would be beaten down as hard if we lost though. If anyone was going to feel the effects, it would be Carolina, and that was almost as scary as Tex herself.

We filed into the training room, and Carolina waved me over to the west wall, while Tex calmly took her place at the east wall. Carolina looked me over and then shot her gaze back to Tex. This was more than a training simulation for Carolina, I uneasily realized. This was personal, and unfortunately, I was forced to be right in the middle of it. Tex probably wouldn't care nearly as much, but who was I to judge? For all I knew she could have some personal grudge against Carolina and I'd end up watching them squabble from the sidelines. I could also end up with a dozen broken bones, but I tried my best not to think of that possibility. FILSS' cheerful voice sounded over my thoughts.

"Today's match will be between Agent Texas, and Agents Carolina and Colorado. The first team to get to two points will be the winner. Standard rules for hand-to-hand combat are being enforced. AI assistance is permitted for this training exercise."

That was all I needed for a smirk to creep its way across my face.

"Psi?"

"I'm ready whenever you need me, 'Rado."

He sounded just as eager to fight as I was, and I shot a look at Carolina, ready to hear her plan to win the match. Without looking at me, or missing a beat, she gave me the most unhelpful, unoriginal plan I'd ever heard.

"Win. That's all we need to do."

Ignoring Psi's confusion and my own incredulity at her harsh tone, I responded with, "and how are we going to get to the point of winning?"

This time she did look at me, and leaned closer. I'd never heard Carolina's voice so dark before.

"We win through any means necessary."

I felt Psi's uneasiness grow, and though I, too, wanted to show up Tex and prove that she could actually be beaten, I wasn't prepared to be near as aggressive as Carolina seemed to be. Nevertheless, I took a stance near my team leader and felt the tension in my body grow as the countdown started. When it hit zero, I almost expected the whole place to explode from tension. Instead, I watched as Carolina exploded forward aggressively, while Tex just waited for her. Sighing, I took off after the aquamarine Freelancer, hoping we could pull off a victory against the most kick ass woman on the ship.

Tex was easily deflecting blow after blow that Carolina rained down, and almost seemed to know what Carolina was doing before SHE actually did. Narrowing my eyes, I charged forwards and threw a right hook towards her head and followed up with an uppercut from my left arm. Both were thrown off course by the expert movements she possessed, and like lightning, she struck back with all the ferocity I expected. One fist impacted my visor before I could summon a reliable defense, and the next one buried itself in my gut. I flew back, winded, and struggled back up as Carolina yet again went on the offensive, having been kicked back before Tex had turned on me. With one more breath, I, too, charged towards Tex. The technique we had gone over this morning flashed in my mind, but as I tried to coordinate my own movements with Carolina's, I noticed that she wasn't doing the same. She had fallen into her own rhythm, paying no attention to me. Frustrated, I allowed her to take the main brunt of Tex's retaliation.

"_Psi!_"

"_I know; she isn't focusing on strategy. Her personal feelings are what's driving her right now._"

"_Recommendations?_"

He thought for a moment, and I could feel all of the variables spinning around in his thoughts.

"_Flank her. It may not work, but it will make things easier on Carolina._"

I nodded and rushed, my boots pounding on the cold metal surface as I charged behind Tex and began raining down a combination of punches and kicks. Between the two of us I thought we'd have her, but once again Tex managed to surpass my expectations. Roundhouse kicking Carolina out of the way, she spun on me and leapt, shooting out her foot towards my head. I raised my arms in a defensive block and felt myself shoved back a few feet.

"_Duck!_"

Instinct had me react to Psi's warning instantly, and I felt the air over my head whoosh by as Tex's fist shot past. However she quickly brought her entire arm down on top of my head, slamming me brutally to the floor in retaliation. Stars danced across my vision and I watched in fascination as the project's two top juggernauts met in a clash of armor. Carolina managed to hold her own for a little while, but it wasn't long before Tex broke through her defense and tripped Carolina, kicking her across the room.

"Round one, complete. Point to Agent Texas."

I struggled to my feet, shaking my head to steady myself. I could feel Psi's concern and gave him a small nod of reassurance. Carolina walked over to me and shot me a look; I could almost feel the fury radiating off of her.

"What was that?! She tossed you around like you were nothing!"

"Chill out Carolina; she's good, and you can't deny that. I predicted that I was going to get my ass beat before I even entered the arena, but I'm trying my best!"

"Well try harder! I need you at my back."

"Really?" I muttered quietly, "Because it doesn't seem like it."

"What was that?" She said harshly, surprising both Psi and myself.

"Nothing important, Agent Carolina," I said obediently.

She grunted in acknowledgement, though I could tell that she didn't entirely believe me. FILSS began counting down again, and Carolina didn't bother telling me what she wanted. She wanted me to have her back; I would be playing the support role. I wasn't happy with the assignment, and Psi could tell. Both Carolina and I needed to be on the attack to have a chance, but she didn't seem to realize that. In fact it seemed like she was trying to keep me out of the way as much as possible. Narrowing my eyes at the silly schoolgirl grudge she was displaying.

"_Ok, Psi, new battle plan. Don't take Carolina's unspoken 'fuck off' into account._"

Psi was always sharp as a tack, and today was no different. When the timer hit zero, he had a plan for me.

"_Carolina is primarily targeting her upper body and torso. Go for Tex's legs and you may unbalance her. Don't try to hit her; just force her to move._"

I nodded as a quick response and immediately leapt forward with Carolina, matching her step for step until she threw a fist towards Tex, and I slid down for a sweeping kick at her legs. However, as before, Tex responded admirably; she jumped to avoid my sweep, and twisted her body to block Carolina's volley of blows, before landing gracefully on her feet, and ducking Carolina's roundhouse kick. Like lightning, I tossed forward a jab from my left arm and followed up with my right, but she deflected both blows and delivered a biting punch to my chest that pushed me back. Carolina took my place immediately, but within two seconds I was up and again charging.

"_Remember, 'Rado, just force her to move!_"

"_I'm trying!_"

I tried to go for a sweep again, and at the same time Carolina was driving in a left hook. There was no way she could dodge it! At least, that's what I thought. Tex leapt up into the air, and pulled off exactly what she had in the first training session, managing to catch Carolina's visor with a brutal punch, and sending me sprawling on my back with a kick. Furious now with how easily I was getting my ass handed to me, I jumped back up and rushed, quickly finding myself flat on my back as she kicked me over while I was defending myself from her fists.

"Damn it!" I hissed in anger. Carolina was up and back on the offensive. It was remarkable really; I never saw Tex go on offense. It was all defensive maneuvers and expertly done counterattacks. Almost like she expected her enemies to come to her all of the time. Granted, I had personally seen her charge in and kick ass anyway, but I found it interesting how she was more content to wait for us than vice versa. Of course with how personal Carolina was taking this fight, it seemed unlikely that Tex would have to wait for us to make our moves first. Carolina would always speed towards her like an RPG. Part of me wondered why the team leader kept throwing herself at someone obviously superior, but I supposed grudges did that to a person; I sure knew the feeling.

Nevertheless, I leapt up off of the floor and rushed forwards, following up Carolina's blows with some more support-oriented maneuvers.

"_Jump, 'Rado!_"

I followed Psi's order mechanically, watching as Tex's leg flew beneath me. However she quickly followed up with a punch to my gut that left me groaning on the floor. A second later I heard Carolina's furious yell as she, too, landed on the floor.

"Round two, complete. Point goes to Agent Texas. Today's victor is Agent Texas."

Her victory, or the bruise that was forming on my arm, honestly didn't surprise me. I didn't need to see Carolina's face to know that she was furious over the loss to the other woman yet again. Pulling myself off of the floor, I shook myself out and turned to exit, feeling a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Carolina, and Psi's wariness increased my own.

"Not good enough today, Agent Colorado."

With that jab, she pushed past me on her way to the locker room. I shook my head.

"Psi, someday her competitive nature is going to kill either herself, or one of us."

My partner gave his AI equivalent of a sigh in my head, apparently agreeing with my assessment. I waited a few minutes before following Carolina. I was starving now because of the events of the day, and hoped North had had a decent talk with his sister. The Director had to have known that excluding South while giving her brother an AI would inflame their already strained relationship. Pondering this, I went through a shower without much thought of anything else before walking to the mess hall, planning on North already being there.

_**So ya xD this was a short chapter, and is also extremely late. You have absolutely no idea how awful I feel for the delay. Between catching a virus and writer's block, this is the best I could dish out. I promise it won't be as short or bad next time!**_


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